LIBMRY or CONGRESS. I 






I^UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, f 



SIX YEARS A PRIEST 



AND 



A DECABE A PROTESTAE 



rn 



i, BY 



PROF. F/W. WOOD, A. M., Ph. D. 



Wiih Illustrations, 










CLEVELAND, 0.: ^ 

CEOCKEE'S PUBLISHING HOUSE* 

1876. 



ThS Library 
washington 



.W?5 



UNTEBED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, 
BY CROCKER'S PUBLISHING HOUSE, 
1876. 



TJNION ELECTROTYPE FOUNDRY, 
CLEVELAND, O. 



3D E ID I O -i^ T E ID 

• TO 

BISHOP MATTHEW SIMPSOy, 

THE 



INDEX 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. — My Arrival in America ----- 7 

II. — My Priestly Activity In Avilla - - - 13 

III. — My Priestly Activity in Avilla — Continued 25 

IV. — My Priestly Activity in Avilla — Continued 38 

V. — The Holy Sacrifice of Mass - - - - 65 

YI. — Mass— Continued ------- 6& 

VII. — My Priesthood in Avilla — Continued - - 77 

VIII. — Removal to Mishawaka ------ 84 

IX. — X. — My Pastorate in Goshen — Contilued - 100 

XI. — CONVENTICAL LiFE ------- 121 

XIL — CONVENTICAL LiFE — CONTINUED - _ - - 151 

XIII. — Danger to America from Roman Catholicism 168 

XIV. — The Fruitful Seed of Romanism is Sown - 195 
XV. — Danger to America From Roman Catholicism 

FROM ITS Dogmatical Standpoint - - 219 
XVI. — Danger to America From Roman Catholicism — 

Continued ------- 242 

XVII. — The Great Contest Between Romanism and Pro- 
testantism IN America has Commenced - 259 
XVIII.^Miscellany— License— Authority of a Catholic 

Priest - - - -- - - - 274: 



ILLUSTRATIONS, 



-♦-♦- 



FACINa 
PAGE 



Martyrdom of W. M. Tyndall — Frontispiece 

AuGusTiNiAN Canon, ---__. --55 

Benedictine Monk, - 121 

Dominican Nun, 151 

Author's Portrait, -_. 274 



PREFACE, 



Haying for several years been requested by many of my 
protestant friends to write a book on "Romanism," I have thought 
I could not do better than to furnish them, within the compass 
of these pages, such proofs of the falsehood, errors, superstitions 
and immorality of the Roman Catholic Church and her priesthood 
in particular, as must compel the leaders of that body to prove 
the truth of their belief, before disputing the solidity of Protes- 
tantism, and defend the immorality of their clergy, before con- 
demning the true intec^rity of Bible Christianity. 

A Roman Catholic b/ birth, baptism, education, profession 
and experience, and even in that i^art of Germany where scarcely 
a protestant is known; a catholic priest and missionary by 
vocation and conscience for six years in America, and a Protes- 
tant by conviction and choice for the last ten years, I cannot but 
view with feelings of the liveliest concern every question involv- 
ing the interests of either our beloved country or the church 
of Bible truths. After my personal experience in the Roman 
Catholic Church as layman, student and priest, — after my diligent 
studies and careful comparisons of impartial authorities, both 
of catholic and protestant writers for many years, and after 
fervent prayers and meditations on religious subjects, I am com- 
pelled to regard popery, either as a system of morals or as a 
revelation of religious truths, as having a natural and necessary 
tendency to spoil the beauty of Christianity. 

Where is the land on the map of this wide world; where the 
kingdom, empire or republic of mediaeval or modern ages ever 
subjected to its sway, that may not justly number the influence 
of popery on its civil and social affairs, as one of the heaviest 
calamities, and indeed as the source of rivalry, war, revolution, 
bloodshed, and of most of its misfortunes. Popery, I venture 
to say, is truly always the same evil thing, wherever it has the 
ascendency. l3e it in England, America or Germany. AVhether 
popery, as some wise men fear, is again to have the ascendency, 
or otherwise, we shall not express our opinion. One thing, how- 
ever, is certain, that since their decline in Continental Europe, 
they ardently wish to rule in America and England; that they 
seek it, that they will not be satisfied without it, that they will 
use every means to obtain it, and that, if they succeed, they will 



' VI PREFA CE. 

act over again the foulest deeds of deceptions and death that 
pollute the aunals of the Middle Ages. Therefore, Protestant 
America, do not slumber; awake! 
**Speak ye boldly in my name, for I have sent you.*' — Luke x: 16. 

After a retirement from the pulpits, and an engagement in 
the recitation rooms of American institutions for ten years, L 
feel that Providence and conscience call upon me to laj- the truth, 
before the public, that Catholics and Protestants may profit by 
it, and that it may be a preparatory guide to State and Govern- 
ment in our religious and civil affairs, in our contests and con- 
flicts, which soon may come to pass in America. 

Protestantism has accepted only a defensive position towards 
Koman Catholicism for three hundred years; but now, under 
divine protection, having grown to a formidable army of one 
hundred millions, it is strong enough to attack the Catholic 
Church in Europe and to enter even in her strongholds, Italy, 
Prance and Spain. By the Grace of Almighty God, Protestantism 
has become strong in science, strong in philosophy, strong in 
doctrines and morals, and powerful in the Society of the civilized 
world, and, for these reasons, the leading characters of Catholi- 
cism became alarmed to such an extent that they advised their 
people to shelter themselves behind infallible walls, and also to 
kneel at the shrines of sacred relics. However, I hope that, dur- 
ing their consternation everywhere, we may be able in Americor 
to win many of them over in the spirit of truth and love to Christ's 
religion. 

It is impossible for a really Protestant mind not to feel. 
a respect for those religious catholics who retain the title only 
from the accidents of birth and education, and not from ill-feeling 
toward the evangelical church, or on account of any sin or error 
of their own. There are a number of these to be found, both in 
Europe and America, in the present day; and, for my part, I 
entertain an esteem and regard for them, and should be happy 
to have it in my power, under any circumstances, to enlighten, 
and console them. Since I have been lecturing on Romanism 
many Roman Catholics called upon me, either in person or by 
letter, asking for advice. I attended to their spiritual wishes 
and shall most cheerfully comply with them hereafter. 

Should severe blame in the following pages appear to be cast 
on any one, I beg that it may not be understood as intended to 
apply to catholics who honestly believe they are right and. 



PREFA CE. VII 

diligently endeavor to lead a pure and sober life, but to those 
leaders of the church who trample under foot the truths of the 
Bible they falsely pretend to teach, to those apostates from the 
faith, who hide their disbelief in the secret closet of their heart 
that they may be permitted to serve on the catholic altar for the 
purpose of making their living from that altar. 

I trust that these reflections, dictated by the love of truth, 
by esteem to my former friends, and by the desire of prevent- 
ing future conflicts, and serving this dear country, the domicile 
of all the oppressed, may be both agreeable and profitable to 
them. With regard to the priests, of whom I have spoken par- 
ticularly in this volume, I do not wish to wound or to humble 
them, but to do away with their errors, to repel their attacks 
upon protestant religion, education, freedom of speech and repub- 
lican institutions, or induce them to rely upon the protection 
and assistance of protestants, in case they should desire to 
exchange their catholic bondage for evangelical liberty. I should 
only be too thankful if anything I said should cause a ray of light 
to enter the minds of my former associates and should inflame 
them with divine love; also, to convince, on the other hand, the 
American people, that it is necessary for them to watch and to 
take preliminary steps to protect the Sacred Institutions of the 
Washingtonian Independence. Let neither party, the religious 
(or Catholics,) nor the political (or Americans, ) ever make lights 
of their doubts; let them weigh them in the balance of the sanc- 
tuary; let them pray, meditate and act. 

Notwithstanding that it is my duty to fight against the poli- 
cies and doctrines of the Roman Catholics, and against the 
attempts they make to propagate them, I am most desirous for 
their personal good; and, instead of the darkness, in which they 
are seeking to involve us, I beg of the Lord to bestow upon them 
abundance of light. Would that grace might touch their hearts 
and bring them to the fold of Christ at the very moment in which 
they are endeavoring in their educational institutions to snatck 
other sheep from the Good Shepherd. 

I shall attain the height of my wishes if these chapters should 
profit them, as they will profit, I trust, other Catholics who are 
seeking in good faith the Church of Bible truths; and Protestants 
also, who can never, under any pretense, either leave or betray it. 

THE A UTHOR, 
Mount Union College, Stark County^ Ohio, 



CHAPTER I. 

MY ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 

IT was on the first day of May, 1859, when I left 
the dear old country home of my Catholic Fathers 
and ancestors in Germany. And it was on the 27th 
of the following June, after a tedious and dangerous 
voyage, when suddenly I saw and cried with a Colum- 
bian joy, '^ Land ! Land!^' It was morning, and 
before us arose Baltimore, from her nightly couch. I 
had just finished my morning prayers to the Author 
of my being and the Benefactor of my life. The sun 
stretched* forth from the eastern horizon, the salut- 
ing fingers of his rosy hand to touch the smiling brow 
of the awaking day. The splendor of his rays was 
sporting in the waving mirror of the sea, and his 
majestic royalty drove before him the murky clouds 
of night, pushing them to the western shores of the 
never slumbering globe. I saw clearly how Aurora 
knelt, kissing in a flighty haste, all alike, — the fine 
homes of inventive man and the rolling waves, created 
for sportful fish ; the shrubby trees of the mountains, 
and the flowery beauties of the valley. For a moment 
I was lost in amazement, stood still, sighed and 
thought: Oh, Lord! if thy visible habitations are so 
grand, even for the unconscious beings of thy creation, 



SIJT YEARS A PRIEST 



how splendid and magnificent must thy invisible man- 
sions be in the world of immortal spirits, where Thou 
art the everlasting morning sun, and thy royal robed 
confessors the angelical stars of ever shining glory. 

And in my meditation, I said, Oh, Father ! if thou, 
stoop down from the circles of heaven on the matresses 
of nature, to kiss every morning anew, even the worms< 
in the dust, how much more wilt thou deign to press 
man, the image of thy divinity, to thy parental heart,, 
like a tenderly loving mother her darlin^j infant. 
Thou wilt hug him, thou wilt fondle him, when after a 
safe journey through the vale of tears, he sweeps 
through the celestial gates, to dwell there in the coun- 
cils of Zion with Thee and thy royal priests. My 
heart leaped with ecstasy, my lips sang praises of joy. 
My mouth rang sounds of thanks for our journey's- 
safety, and my fo'ot stepped dancing upon the soil of 
American Liberty. Yet Onward! Onward ! ' Man, in 
his mortal career, is but a traveler upon earth. 

I remained only twenty-four hours in Baltimore. 
Cincinnati, the strong-hold and flower of Catholicism,, 
was the aim of my journey's destiny. I came to 
America with the spirit of a young Catholic mission- 
ary, imbued with great ardor and zeal, professing ta 
convert '' Protestant America'.' to the Roman Catholic 
faith. Immediately I called upon Archbishop Purcell,. 
We tried very hard to make ourselves understand each, 
other ; but we could not. I was not able to speak the 
English language, and he talked the German too 
broken for me. We tried the Latin, but in vain, — 
his linguistic drum-sticks composed of English sounds,. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 9 

could not understandingly reach my latin drum-skins, 
endowed with the continental pronunciation. There 
we were standing for a moment facing each other like 
two imitating apes covered with vermillion crimson 
from one ear to the other, exhibiting our scientific 
skill in a wonderful language. He was not favorably 
impressed with me, nor I with him. To my great joy 
he indicated that we might sit down, because my limbs 
trembled like young leaves of the trees, moved by 
gentle zephyrs of the south. This Episcopal Digni- 
tary took a piece of paper from the desk, saying : 
" Bormine Reverende^ scribamus cogitationes nostras,'^ 
We wrote, ''I understand his Horatian Latin, and he 
my Ciceronian style," Thus we were conversing for 
about half an hour. I was to be received into the St. 
Mary's Seminary, in order to study the English lan- 
guage, and prepare myself for the great and important 
Catholic mission work in America. On leaving, he 
requested me to furnish a " Curriculum Vitae^^^ in the 
latin language as soon as possible. I wrote it, and 
received many compliments in reference to my latin 
style, which I do not desire to repeat. But will state 
here, that they were gratifying to me, and a recom- 
pense for my careful endeavors. 

I had passed my twenty-ninth j^ear of age when I 
commenced to learn the English language. I studied, 
I exercised my linguistic organs, of standing German 
habits, in every shape, in all directions, and after my 
baboon-like imitations, hard labors, and frequent prac- 
tice, I found to my great disgust, that my lips, teeth, 
tongue and palate, still refused to emit some sounds 



XO SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

according 'to the exact orders of my experienced 
English teacher. I found, that theory is one thing, and 
practice another. Even to-day, after constant prac- 
tice of sixteen years, my wife being an educated 
American and deeply interested in my welfare, once 
in a while will say : " Fred, do that over again ; you 
don't pronounce that word just as it ought to be ; 
you can do it better, if you try — try ! " I am pre- 
pared now to say, that it takes a long time and a great 
exertion even from an early childhood, to speak any 
foreign language perfectly well. 

Rev. Father Smarius, the eloquent Jesuit of 
Chicago, held a mission in the Catholic church at 
Goshen, Indiana, in the fall of 1862. He came as 
.a boy only nine years of age from Belgium to America, 
received his education in the English language, had 
preached eighteen years as a missionary in this coun- 
try, and yet the ear of an educated American per- 
•ceived that he was a Foreigner. There is a well- 
founded German adage : " Frueh nehe sich, wer ein 
3Ieister wer den will.'' 

" Early must he practice, who would become a 
master."' 

In my leisure hours I taught the Latin, Greek, 
French and German, to some pupils of the Institution, 
who Avere preparing themselves for the priesthood. 
But in the fall, I was suddenly taken seriously ill ; 
although I recovered gradually, I was nevertheless 
an invalid for several months. My physician thought 
I might be benefitted in the country by the healthy 
breeze of the Ohio, and therefore advised me to spend 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 11 

some time in New Richmond, Ohio, under the hospit- 
able care of my friend Henry Boecker — who was 
pastor of the Catholic Congregation there. I was 
soon restored to health. From New Richmond I 
returned to Cincinnati. There I met with Bishop 
Luers, of the Diocese of Ft. Wayne, in the house of 
Rev. August Toebbe, pastor of St. Philomenas', whom 
I visited frequently during my stay in Cincinnati, and 
who was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Coving- 
ton, Ky., January 9th, 1870. He introduced me to 
the Bishop of Ft. Yv^ayne. Rt-Rev. Luers persuaded 
me to accompany him to his new Diocese, promising 
me a beautiful and beneficial section of the country for 
my spiritual kingdom, as he called it. I was sent to 
Avilla, Noble county, Indiana, where Rev. Henry 
Schaefer was stationed. Havinor been born only fifteen 
miles from my parental home in Germany, *he become 
a dear friend of mine in the course of one j^ear. 
While on a visit for the benefit of his health, he di^A 
in New Orleans, September 11th, 1870, aged 41 years. 
— a poor sufi'erer from his youth, with consumption. 
" Mequiescat in Pace:^^ Yes, ''Rest in peace," dear 
man. '' It is appointed unto men once to die." You 
are a man, my brother. You must die ! Our other 
goods and evils are uncertain ; death alone is certain. 
The stroke of death shall fall on all nobles and 
monarchs of the earth. When death comes, there is 
no earthly power able to resist it. Fire, water, the 
sword, and the power of princely rulers may be 
resisted, but death cannot be resisted. Dearly beloved 
reader, though you should live as many years as you 



12 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

expect, a day shall come, and on that day or hour, 
which shall be the last for you. For me, who am now 
writing and for you who are reading this book, will 
come a day and a moment when I shall no longer 
Avrite and you no longer read. Be prepared at that 
solemn hour ; and when you battle with the storms of 
life, endure the stings of misfortune, encounter ser- 
pentine doubt, fight against the towering waves of the 
sea ; do your part well. Fight ! and in your fight, 
this shall your motto be : '' Let all be lost, provided 
Ood is not lost." Oh, that we all who are crossing 
the dangerous Atlantic of life may direct our mortal 
steerage safely to the harbor of immortalitj^, and in 
the morning of the resurrection cry, " Land! Land ! !" 
^'A country of Liberty.'' "A home of eternal 
^lory." 



CHAPTER II. 

3IY PRIESTLY ACTIVITY IN AVILLA — PHILOSOPHICAL 
AND SPECULATIVE THEOLOGY. 

MY spiritual kingdom in Indiana embraced five 
counties, viz : Noble, Allen, DeKalb, Whitley, 
and Elkhart. Avilla, in Noble county, being my place of 
residence. When I celebrated my first mass in Avilla, 
I was so overcome by fear, joy and sadness, during the 
consecration of the " Holy Host,'^ that my hands 
trembled, my feet staggered, my sight failed, and the 
two assistant priests at the altar bore me in their arms, 
to keep me from falling. I blessed the wafer, (speak- 
ing the words of consecration : ''Hoc est enim corpus 
meumJ' "For this is my body;") ofi*ered violence to 
myself, implored Jesus for help, cried unto all the 
saints in heaven for light, that I might be able to 
believe sincerely in the real presence of Christ in the 
holy Eucharist, but all in vain. 

Oh, Lord, thou knowest what agony I sufi'ered. It 
seemed to me I was a Pharisee, a Judas, the greatest 
hypocrite on the face of the earth, standing there at 
the altar of God, saying mass, — that is celebrating the 
sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, ofi'ered under 
the appearances of bread and wine, to commemorate 
and continue the sacrifice of the cross ; consecrating 



14 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

the holy wafer, and not believing in the act of my 
own performance. I was afraid, that the wrath of God 
might descend upon me to extirpate my human 
existence. 

Now in regard to the teaching of the Catholic 
Church respecting the '' Holy Eucharist" a statement 
of some length might here be in place. 

She teaches in her instructions on the blessed 
Eucharist, that it is a true sacrament ; how it has an 
outward sign, an inward grace, and was instituted 
according to the scriptural accounts of Christ. The 
Catholic Church argues that three things are necessary 
to constitute a sacrament : First, some external sensi- 
ble thing ; second, inward grace, that is, this external 
thing with the application of it to the "Receiver" 
must both signify inward grace and have the power of 
producing it in the soul; third, this sign or outward 
part of the sacrament must have been permanently 
instituted by Christ in his church to be the means of 
producing grace. The external sensible thing, with 
the application of it, is called the matter of the sacra- 
ment ; the words which are pronounced at the same 
time by the minister applying the matter, are called 
the form. Thus the matter of the sacrament of the 
''Holy Eucharist" (or communion) is the bread and 
wine, with the application of it to the person who 
receives, and the form of this sacrament is the sen- 
tence : ' Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodial 
animam tuam in vitam aeternan,^^ Amen. 

" The body of our Lord Jesus Clirist preserve thy 
soul to life everlasting." Amen. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 15 

As in regard to the matter in sacrament the 
Catholic Church teaches that there is a remote and 
proximate matter. The application of the matter to 
the person who is receiving it, being the '^materia 
proximata^^^ and the corporeal and sensible thing itself, 
the '' remotaJ^ 

" Materia est res corporea et sensibilis^ quae suscepienti 
appUcaturJ' etc. 

'' Et Jiaec est materia remota, nam proxima est ipsa 
applicatio materiae.'^ St. Alph, Sig^ Horrij Apostol^ 
append^ 3, ^(;. 5. 

The inward grace in the " Holy Eucharist" is that 
inward invisible part, which God gives, viz . '' To feed 
and nourish our souls, and to enable us to perform all 
our christian duties." 

"If any one shall assert that the sacraments of 
the ^ New Law' do not confer that grace, which they 
signify, upon those who put no obstacle in the way, 
let him be anathema :" Council of Trent. 

" Si quis dixerit, saeramenta novae legis non con- 
tinere gratiam^ quam significant^ aid gratiam ipsam non 
ponentibus ohicem^ non conjerre ; anathema^ sit.^^ Con^ 
Trid, Sess. 7. de Sacr. in genere Can. 6. 

The " Holy Eucharist" is an Institution of Christ : 
there, of course, we must make a distinction between 
the words of promise and those of Institution. Though 
our Lord did not institute this sacrament until the 
night before his passion (at the last supper) he had 
long promised it. You recollect, he took occasion 
from the miraculous multiplication of the five loaves, 
to make this promise. It is evident, that a sacrament 



16 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

must be an Institution of Christ : He is the Author of 
the Sacrament. For, no one, except God can give to 
material things, or outward signs, the power of pro- 
ducing grace in the soul. 

It might, perhaps, be acceptable to some of my 
protestant readers to insert, that the number of the 
sacraments in the Catholic Church are seven, viz : Bap- 
tism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unc- 
tion, Order and Matrimony. Seven : This is an article 
of Faith in the Catholic Church." If any one shall 
assert that the sacraments of the New Law w^ere not 
all of them instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or 
that there are more or less than seven, or even that 
anyone of these seven is not truly and properly a Sac- 
rament, let him be anathema, {^Con. Trid, Sess 7. de 
jSacr. in genere Can, 1.) 

Protestants recognize only two Sacraments, because 
our Lord instituted but two, — baptism and the Lord's 
Supper. 

Petrus Lombardus, one of the Schoolmen and 
Bishop of Paris, who died 1146, was the first who 
mentioned the number " Seven." This new doctrine, 
however, was not proclaimed as an article of Faith 
before the council of Trent 1547. They are not to be 
found in the Bible, nor were they established in the 
primitive christian era, but at various periods, till at 
length Rome found the happy number '' Seven" and 
bound the conscience of her members by a solemn 
promulgation. No wonder that I fainted at the Altar 
in Avilla, when in saying mass, I found that I w^as 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 17 

unable to believe in the real presence of Christ in 
the " Blessed Sacrament/^ 

You will perceive from my intimations, tha^^ 
anathemas in the Catholic Church are not of great 
scarcity. Popes, Councils, Archbishops, Bishops, 
Mitred Abbots, and even Priests without wearing 
Mitres, keep them on hand in great abundance, to 
curse heretics, and all their opponents, suspend them, 
hurl their souls to the abyss of hell. No matter about 
your Aveighty arguments and undeniable proofs of 
truth ; if you are a member of the papal church, your 
mind is kept in a despotic prison, all the noble facul- 
ties of your soul in a certain balance, y^u must believe 
in the Roman apostolic creed and in every article of 
that creed, and unless you do, you will be cursed, cast 
out, spit upon, torn in pieces, if possible, by spies, 
lurking in the dark corners of the night. They make 
you believe that the sun turns every twenty-four hours, 
and the earth is standing still. They reason like this : 
if the earth would turn, and the sun stand still, behold ! 
the pigs in the stables would stand on their heads. 
Nolens^ Volens^ you must believe, because Rome has 
spoken. And if you have been incautious and foolish 
enough to submit your doubts and disbelief for publi- 
cation, you may be sure that you will be brought before 
a council of church authorities, who demand of you a 
recantation of your heretical views. But you cannot; 
it is against your better convictions. They will put 
you into a dungeon and watch the walls of your im- 
prisonment. There they place before you a " Paper of 
Retraction,^^ compelling you to sign to it your name 



18 SIJT YEARS A PRIEST 



under a vow of solemn recantation. When moved by 
remorse of conscience, you may jump three feet high, 
whirl the thoughtless quill around your troubled head, 
and with Galileonian celerity exclaim, " Nevertheless 
the earth moves and the sun stands still.'^ It is 
written you are " fallible" the " Pope is infallible, 
therefore the earth stands and the sun moves. '^ And 
unless you submit to their commands, against your 
moral convictions, they will fetter your hands, chain 
the fluency of your mind by tortures, change your 
spinal column into an ill-tuned guitar, play on it with 
their swift lashes, and laugh with satanic scorn at 
your miserable voice; even in the hour of death, 
unless you retract before, they will draw your hand, 
show your signature to the world, and say: "Look 
here! Catholics are infallible, but Protestants are 
fallible ! " Though I believe now in but two sacra- 
ments instituted by Christ, (baptism and Holy Eucha- 
rist), my judgment was then in accordance with that 
of the Catholic Church in regard to their number. 

It was not there, where my trouble began. It was 
here: Did Christ speak at the last Supper in a figu- 
rative or literal language? when saying, ''This is my 
body, this is my blood." And the origin of my doubts 
in matters of Faith is to be found in my study and 
investigation after the triitli^ for seven precious years 
and longer. Since my twenty-fourth year of age I 
could not trust implicitly in papal infallibility, because 
of Rome's boasted unity, antiquity and immutibility. 
I searched in the history of the Roman Catholic 
Church, consulted impartial protestant writers on the 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 19 

same subject, and was soon convinced that the religion, 
though boasting of unchangeableness, received con- 
tinual accession of superstition, corruption, and ab- 
surdity, even from the fifth to the sixteenth century, 
till the original simplicity of the church became a 
heterogeneous composition of apostolic truths and 
human aberations. 

My mother church claims to have these four marks, 
" One," " Holy,'' '' Catholic,'^ " Apostolic." 

In history I found, there is but one Roman Catho- 
lic Church upon earth ; but I could not find her unity 
in '' One Faith" and '' One Communion." I noticed, 
also, that a '' Holy Father" in Rome was freely spoken 
of, but I could not discern the holy doctrines of his 
church from those of the Protestant denominations, 
neither distinguish the eminent holiness of so many 
thousands of his children in our days, and came to the 
conclusion, that perhaps the holy eminency of pure 
catholicity was modestly hiding itself in the present 
century. I read dilligently of a church, ('^Catholic," or 
universal) without being able to discover her subsistence 
in all ages, and her maintenance of all truths further 
than the fifth century. In my reach after the Apos- 
tolic church of Roman Papacy, I discovered her name, 
written in large golden letters above the door of her 
present Pontifi", and upon the costly robes of an epis- 
copal and clerical ministry, without being able to 
detect the marks of integral Apostolicy. On the 
other hand, I was terrified to see how many of her 
Apostles wore the character of a treacherous Judas. 
Being thus greatly alarmed and distressed about the 



20 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

condition of my dear Mother, I continued my investi- 
gations conscientiously in the historical study. Pro- 
gressing slawly, but cautiously, I began mistrusting 
the genuineness of Catholicism and ceased to trust 
implicitly in papal infallibility. 

I Avas not afraid, as many Catholic Priests often are,, 
to touch, open, read, ar.d scrutinize protestant books. 
I searched in their Bibles and commentaries, read their 
historical accounts of Inquisition in Spain, Portugal, 
Italy and Germany, turned over volumes on Arch- 
aeology of the primitive christian church, compared 
them with some of our catholic records, treating on 
the same subjects, and perceived a wilfull disguise on 
the part of catholic historians in essential matters. 
How often had we been assured and pacified in recita- 
tion and lecture halls by our professors of history and 
theology, when we had inquired why the church had 
not promulgated certain dogmas sooner ? and why 
the promulgation of so many dogmas had been delayed 
so long, and taken place in various centuries? by being 
told that circumstances had not demanded it. It 
would be foolish to arouse an enemy when he was 
asleep. There was no necessity of forming distinct 
definitions in dogmatical doctrines before attacks of 
hostile infidelity. We were not told that misconstruc- 
tions in the church herself had frequently given rise 
to heretical and schismatic definitions and promul- 
gations. 

On examining into this case circumspectly, I found 
that in the year 1059 it was determined that Christ's 
body Avas present in the Sacrament ; that the actual 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 21 

change of the elements was decreed upon in the Fourth 
Lateran Council, 1215 ; that mass, as it now exists, 
was inaugurated in 1563, and half communion could 
be dated back to 1415, but I was not able to discover 
either the necessity or scriptural authority, satis- 
factory to myself for these and a number of other 
dogmas, from the seventh to the nineteenth century, 
in the church of Rome. 

I was still left in the dark, in regard to the '' Real 
Presence" of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, which is 
to be consecrated by the Catholic Priest in the sacri- 
fice of mass. My mind was in a gloomy, indeci- 
sive condition, being fully aware of the responsibility 
of my sacred office ! I was an ordained priest, had 
virtuously received by the imposition of the Bishops 
hands the authority of administering the sacraments, 
of saying mass and consecrating the " Holy Host.'^ 
Not a moment did I hesitate to believe that I was 
enabled by Christ himself through the ordination per- 
formed upon me by one of his legally instituted 
servants, to execute the office of a Priest in the church 
of God ; but I doubted that I received the power of 
changing bread and wine into the real flesh and blood 
of Christ, by blessing the substance and saying, " This 
is my body," " This is my blood." I felt that the 
proper authorities had attempted to bestow upon me 
a faculty, which they did not possess themselves, a 
power of performing a miracle every day anew on the 
altar of God, which Christ himself was neither able nor 
intended to perform — a legacy of committing impos- 
sibilities and absurdities. I was theyi strongly doubt- 



22 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

ing, and am noio morally convinced, that I did not 
receive such a power. 

Sometimes I had great fear, that I was not seeing 
facts in the light, they are in verity. At other times 
it seemed it were a gross blasphemy in me to yield to 
a doctrine of an utter impossibility. Thus it stood 
with me for several years. I prayed for light, and 
sought in science and history the waymarks of a true 
Guide. I indeed admitted that Christ, my dear Saviour, 
is Almighty, perfectly equal to the Father, that he 
wrought wonders and miracles, both concerning the 
soul and body of men, but I denied that he was able 
to take his own body into his OAvn hands, lifting it up, 
under the species of bread and wine, present it to his 
disciples as if it Avere in its real substance and human 
form — flesh and blood. And I argued thus with my- 
self : Christ is said to be omnipotent, and doubtlessly 
he is, and yet, there are things he cannot do. For 
instance : he cannot sin — sin is contradictory to Grod's 
infinite holiness : sin therefore would annihilate one of 
his divine attributes, damage all others, and destroy 
his divine essence. Christ cannot commit absurdi- 
ties or impossibilities against his natural and super- 
natural laws, once established in the visible creation or 
invisible world of religious revelations. God is a 
Theory of harmony in every way, and cannot contra- 
dict himself in the application of it. No being, be he 
God or man, can take his own body, into his own hands 
and present it to another. Christ arose from the dead, 
but he has not left his body in the grave, because it is 
against the laws of nature to assume two bodies at 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 23 

once. He appeared to his disciples bodily when the 
door was shut, not leaving it, outside the door. Christ 
lifted himself up and ascended into heaven — and we 
believe it. 

God can suspend the laws of nature for a time, but 
he cannot entirely abandon them without arresting the 
original congruity of things in his harmonious creation. 
If Grod would abandon principles inwrought upon his 
creation by the divine hand in the very morning of 
its existence, such an act would be a contradiction to 
His wisdom and change accordingly one essential at- 
tribute of his Deity, to an annihilation. God cannot 
annihilate principles of his '' Divine Nature,'^ without 
changing himself. Neither did Christ, the Divine 
Agency of God, propose to impose upon men doctrines 
which are against the laws of reasoning and under- 
standing. His teachings may be as they are, in many 
instances, above human comprehension, but they can- 
not be in opposition to laws and principles relating to 
God's nature. The principal fault in the Roman 
Catholic Church, if I understand the character of that 
body correctly, lies in the tendency of teaching and 
believing things, which God in his omniscient Provi- 
dence does not require ; and of promulgating doctrines 
which cannot be sustained by scriptural authority, 
and thus she brings into bondage the human mind and 
forces upon men's conscience unlimited torture. The 
papal church is infallible ! She will never retract any 
one of her proclaimed dogmas, any recantation of 
proclaimed doctrines would obstruct her way of pro- 
gress, and lead to final self-destruction. Proud Rome 



24 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

will fiot commit suicide. She will cling above all ta 
the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. It 
and mass are the pillars of the Catholic Church. 
Strike them down, and the Papal Temple will fall. 
Reformation., in that church is impossible. Separatioa 
and excommunication will cause her final destruction. 
Luther, the great Reformer, wrote to his friend, 
Guttenberg, in Strassburg : ^'If we could show that 
Christ w^ere not truly, really, and substantially present 
in the 'Blessed Sacrament,' we would strike at Pa~ 
pacy a deadly blow." The time has come, that Rome 
must prepare herself for a final test relating to this 
most important of all Dogmas, and unless she is able 
to sustain it she will sink into oblivion, gradually, it 
may be, but surely and forever; nothing will prevent 
her ruin except a victory in this decisive trial! 



CHAPTER III. 

MY PRIESTLY ACTIVITY IX AYILLA PHILOSOPEICAL 

AND SPECULATIVE THEOLOGY CONTINUED. 

THE words of Christ at the Last Supper were figu- 
rative, and not literal, as Catholics will have them. 
Therefore, Priests are neither enabled nor authorized 
to change the elements into his real body and blood. 
Who can believe in a dogma that leads to endless ab- 
surdities ? I could not. Let us think of it for a 
moment, viz : Nothing of the substance of bread and 
wine remains after consecration. All, except the 
accidents, (outward appearance, smell, taste, etc.), is 
transformed into the Messiah — into his Godhead — witk 
all his perfection, and into his manhood with all his 
component parts, soul, body, blood, bones, flesh, nerves,, 
muscles, brains and sinews. Christ, according to the 
same absurdity, is not only whole, in the whole, but 
also whole in every part, in every crumb of the bread, 
and every drop of the wine, and again in every atom 
of the crumb. When celebrating mass every morning, 
I asked myself: Is it true, that in the smallest crumb, 
which separates itself, when the Priest breaks or' 
handles the wafer, the whole body of Christ is present? 
as our church teaches ? Again I asked : When the 
Priest takes the wafers, ono after another, out of the- 



26 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Chalice {cibarium) to place them upon the tongues of 
the communicants, does each dust, each atom, that 
sticks to his fingers, contain the whole body of christ? 
My soul Avas grieved, that thousands and millions 
of the bodies, were wasted and distroyed every day, 
tramped under the feet of men, and even eaten by the 
creeping worms of the dust ! For the omniscient eye, 
alone, knows how many pieces, crumbs, dust, atoms, 
loosen themselves from each Avafer, whether it is being 
prepared for the communicant at the altar, or for him, 
who is performing the sacred ceremony on the altar. 
The two vary greatly in size. By a personal expe- 
rience of six years, during Avhich time I celebrated not 
less than two thousand four hundred and eigty-four 
masses, I know positively that I found from tv/enty- 
five to fifty, perhaps more, crumbs of one sacrament 
wafer on the ^' corporal," (a cloth spread on the altar 
during the celebration of mass), which were visible 
even to the natural eye. Though I Avas exceedingly 
careful to remove from the edge of the wafer all the 
crumbs before consecration, it having been cut out of 
a larger cake Avith a sharp circular instrument. After 
the consecration and elevation of the Host, and the 
'^ Agnus Dei^^ (Lamb of God) having been said, the 
priest breaks with his Paten the ^' Host" into three 
parts, this division causes many new crumbs. A paten 
is a small plate of silver, on which the consecrated 
bread in the Eucharist is placed, and so formed as to 
fit the Chalice as a cover. Noav. the Catholic Church 
teaches that the unbloody sacrifice of Christ renewed 
and offered by her priests on her altars every morning, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 27 

and representing the bloody victim upon the Cross on 
Mount Cavalry, cannot be divided, or to speak to you 
still more understandingly : The bloodless body of 
Christ, which is present in each consecrated wafer, is 
indivisible, inseparable. 

He must therefore be present, whole and insepara- 
ble, entire in each crumb or dust. Divide each dust 
into dust again, if possible ! He is in each — not in a 
minor or infant form, as the image of a man in a. 
Photograph, not in a reflected manner, as for instance 
our body appears in a mirror; not in a representative 
style, as the Holy Ghost in fiery tongues, at Pentecost ; 
not in a figure or symbol, as when he said " I am the 
vine !" Nay, Christ in his natural human size, his 
divinity and humanity, his flesh and bones ; again, if 
the body of Christ being present in each wafer, and 
cannot be divided, each particle of that wafer must 
either necessarily contain the whole body, or be void 
of any portion of it. It appears at first sight, that 
His body being present in the Host cannot be dissected, 
as a dissection of it would subject the communicant 
to receive only a part of the body. One a limb, 
another a finger, and so on. But such a sacramentis 
too sacrilegious, and compels reason to reject it. Sup- 
pose, the teachings of the Catholic Church to be true,, 
the Priest consumes at least three bodies, every morn- 
ing ; for he divides it into three parts before receiving 
the Host, and indeed the number may be multiplied to 
any degree, which circumstances, or accident, or 
breakage, may call for. 

In the " Tabernacle'' (a small cupboard) which 



28 SlJr TEARS A PRIEST; 

occupies the centre of the high altar in each Catholic 
Church, is kept an arched chalice^ called Cibarium, the 
coifer or case of which contains from one to three 
hundred Hosts,* to be received by communicants in the 
church, or sick persons at their homes, and is the same 
from which the Hosts are taken, which are carried in 
the processions of different times or festivals. 

This sacred vessel of silver or gold must necessarily 
contain a large number of fragments from time to time, 
which are to be consumed by the resident priest, as a 
general rule this purifying of the Ciharium (as it is 
called), is done once a month. Some of the Catholic 
Divines think that it is absolutely depending upon the 
requisite intention of the Celebrating Priest as to how 
many bodies of Christ he will consume in one com- 
munion, arguing thus : That four requisites are neces- 
sary in the minister, for conferring the sacraments 
validly : 1st, " That he have the power of administer- 
ing them ; 2nd, That he have the jurisdiction, with 
regard to those sacraments, which requil^e it ; 3rd, 
That he perform all the essential rites ; and 4th, That 
he have an intention of at least doing, what the church 
does, adding, it would be of no consequence whether 
the minister be virtuous or wicked, as far as regards 
the validity of the sacrament. For Christ having in- 
stituted them, has left the administration of them to 
the Priests who are the ordained ministry and there- 
fore the sacrament itself would produce the same effect 
in the ^' Receiver.'' '{Cone, Frid, session 7, de saer in 
Geneve, can 11 et 12.) The priest on the alter admin- 
istering and receiving the Holy Eucharist, has every- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 29 

thing in his favor. The administering power, juris- 
diction, essential rites, and finally the intention. But 
^Ilow this interpretation can agree with the teachings 
of the Fathers, Councils, and the Church in general, 
is above the comprehension of my intellect. 

'' Christus totus et integer sub qualibet particula divis- 
ionis, perseveratJ^ Casinius 4, 818. ('' Christ is 
existing in every severed particle, whole and undi- 
vided.") ^'TJhi pars ^ est corporis, est toticm, ('^ Where 
a part of the body is there is the whole.") Gihert 3, 
331. 

I used to believe in the theological theory of priestly 
intention. I do not now. " Nam, Omnipotens, DeuSy 
Committere, nonp)citect imposslhilia, ahsiirdam, per inien- 
iationem Sacerdotis, F. W. W. (" For Almighty God 
cannot commit impossibilities by the absurd intention 
of a priest.") It is a perfect riddle to me, how a priest 
by the power of his ministerial intention, can remove 
many bodies of Christ from many particles of conse- 
crated wafers, or how he can change a hundred bodies 
of Christ into one again, — by the execution of his 
Official Intention. 

From the foregoing statement it appears, that the 
Ticegerents of the ^' Apostolic" church are able to do 
almost anything. But their power of intention is, 
without doubt, predicated on the false and blasphemous 
assumption of the Roman clergy, who arrogate to 
themselves the omnipotence of Almighty God at 
pleasure. Pray ! tell me, how a man, embodied in the 
shape and office of a Catholic Priest, can do such 
miraculous things ? such incredible mysteries ? when 



30 SIX YEARS A PRIEST 



no other man can ; Ah ! .he cannot. A Catholic 
Priest can no more do such wonders, than any 
ordained Protestant minister. It is not only the Cath-' 
olic Laity, who are superstitious. The Clergy are^ also. 
There are many Catholics taught by their priests, that 
the consecrated wafer must melt upon the tongue of 
the communicant, without his touching it with either 
his lips, teeth, or even the roof of the mouth ; that 
a division of the Eucharistic wafer may be prevented. 
Suppose they are so unfortunate as to transgress this 
command of their Ghostly Father ! What then? They' 
sigh, weep, grow pale with fear, or red with excite- 
ment, kneel at the confessional at an early hour, and 
confess their " Mortal Sin !" Poor ignorant slaves of 
early training ! Yet, how strange it is. The very 
same do not mind cursing, swearing, blaspheming, 
taking the name of God and their Saviour in vain ; 
for a blasphemous tongue is very common among 
Catholics. They truly are, they who "choke on a gnat 
and swallow a camel,'' hump and all. Catholic Priests 
think they can work miracles. They imagine they 
can, but in verity they cannot. Catholic witchcraft 
in our intelligent age is a poor trade. There is 
in this country a great German missionary, who 
belongs to the Jesuitic order. He is now seventy 
years of age, has been in America thirty years. 
Fourteen years ago he told me that he had seen at 
four different times a beautiful cross in the sky. They 
appeared just at the time when he was engaged in 
erecting mission crosses. On my asking him confi- 
dentially, if he was sure he saw them ? he answered 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 31 

decidedly, " I am sure, I saw them plainly in thesky/^ 
remarking further, that many members of the congre- 
gation present witnessed the same thing. I have no 
doubt the good and pious father saw, in his lively 
imagination, the crosses, but not in reality; he saw 
them with eyes of Catholic faith, which is based in 
many instances upon gross superstition. Another 
priest assured me that he saw Christ hanging on the 
cross in his natural size, during the elevation of the 
host in mass. My readers, you have here instances of 
Catholic superstition, even in our own enlightened 
land, which are true facts. At that time I believed 
that it might be true, ^and prayed instantly, fervently 
and perseveringly to God to appear to me in that 
way that I might have my doubts removed, and be 
strengthened in the faith of the real presence, but He 
did not answer my prayer:: .n As a Protestant now, 
I unhesitatingly believe that Christ is spiritually 
present in the Holy Sacrament, with all the qualities 
of his divine and human nature, but deny that He 
gives himself in His humanity and divinity, or in His 
human and divine hypostatical union, just as if He 
were hanging and dying on the cross, protesting 
solemnly against '^ Consubstantiation" and ''Tran- 
substantiation.^' 

I am turning over again, the best authorities in the 
Roman Catholic Church, both ancient and modern, 
relating to the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy 
Eucharist, and meet with the same difficulties, contra- 
dictory arguments, errors, jargons, and inconsistencies 
of every kind after ten intervening years. ^ 



82 SIX YEARS A PRIEST 



The solemn dogma of the Catholic Church may be 
summoned in these essential words : " The whole God 
and man is entire in the bread ; entire in the wine ; 
entire in every particle of each element ; entire without 
division in countless hosts, on numberless altars ; 
entire in heaven and at the same time entire on earth. 
The whole is equal to a part, and a part is equal to 
the whole. No wonder, that at Trent 1547 (even that 
late) the two leading Catholic factions, consisting of 
Dominican and Franciscan Monks, differed on essen- 
tial points relating to the Eucharist, though their 
statements were clear and each Avondered at the other's 
nonsense and stupidity. 

Though I have never been a scholar of Thales, 
Phythagoras, Euclid or of the Prussian Copernicus, 
the shining Geometricians and Mathematicians of their 
age, I am prepared to say, Avithout waiting for a 
miraculous catholic guide in my difficult calculation, 
that such a dogma cannot stand the test of logical 
arguments. Itis impossible, blasphemous, sacrilegious, 
wicked, and I reject it in the name of the infinitely 
wise and holy Lord. 

The ''Idea^' of eating an incarnate God, making 
him subject to digestion, assimilation and final dis- 
charge, I abhor it. 

But it is an article of faith in the Catholic Church, 
that through the consecration by a Priest the bread 
and wine is transubstantiated into the body and blood 
of the Saviour, and no longer subject to digestion, etc. 

Let that consecrated wafer be submitted to a 
chemical experiment, my dear friends in the Catholic 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 33 

ministry, and you will find that your faith is supposi- 
tion, and your teaching is fraud. If the size of your 
Trafers is too small for a fair test of such a chemical 
■experiment, prepare, I pray, a large loaf of pure 
Avheat flour, consecrate, give it to a communicant, in 
order to convince yourself that my assertion is incon- 
testable, and your argument too weak to overthrow 
such a chemical experiment. The '' Receiver'^ of the 
consecrated bread shall be our common witness. Since 
the Catholic Church teaches that the dimension of 
Christ's bodily presence is not depending on the 
volume of bread or wine, it is very easy to try the 
experiment. From the different sizes of your wafers, 
w^hich are used for consecration, it is evident that you 
helieve that the quantity of the bread as in regard to 
the bodily presence of Christ in the sacrament, is a 
matter of very little consequence. But it is of great 
importance to know, if the transubstantiated bread and 
wine is subjected to digestion, which you firmly deny. 
I doubt whether this experiment has ever been made 
in the Catholic Church, and if so, you know that 
chemical sciences and apparatus have wonderfully 
improved since the Council of Trent. Will we try, 
therefore? I am ready. But I presume you are 
inclined to answer that it would be a sacrilege to make 
such an experiment with the sacred body of our Lord ! 
I will be responsible for the sacrilegious act. Our 
Lord is exceedingly anxious, that man shall compre- 
liend him with his understanding, for, he said to the 
unbelieving Thomas : " Put thy fingers into the prints 
of the nails, and be not faithless but believing. '' He 



34 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

desires sceptical men to make experiments, in order to 
understand the truth, just as it is. Now you answer 
me, "well, you know, it is a great mystery, and it is 
therefore impossible to try such an experiment/' Indeed 
it is so mystical,' that it comes into a conflictive con- 
tact with human and divine intelligence. The great 
difference between " Romanism'' and '' Protestantism'^ 
simply lies in these two words : " Real" or " Figura- 
tive" presence of Christ in the sacrament. A com- 
promise in this respect between the church of Rome 
and that of Luther would be a preliminary step to the 
reconciliation between the two, and might affect a final 
restoration. What a glorious and God-pleasing work 
such a christian fellowship would be, but the reality 
thereof seems to be impossible, and this for two 
principal reasons. Rome declares it a mystical body,, 
and therefore the intellectual mind, without further 
inquiries, should be satisfied, because mysteries are 
beyond the grasp of human reasoning. And on the 
other hand, it appears at first view, that through the 
proclamation of papal infallibility, notwithstanding it& 
imperative demands, an unsurmountable gulf has been 
drawn between Popery and Protestantism. Jesuitic: 
scrutiny and papal policy have seen their present strife 
long before. They have not been blind to the present 
renewed polemics in each party ; they knew too Avell, 
that stillness amid the serenity of the sea and sky, is 
often the harbinger of the storm. Protestantism can- 
not drop its pen, cannot dismiss the weapons of 
hostility, until the biblical age of truth has been 
restored again to this world of Popish darkness* 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 35 

Twenty-five years since. Rev. Pater Mathias, an aged, 
learned and venerable excapuchin of my native village, 
Seppenrade, when we were speaking about our pro- 
gressive age and modern inventions, said to me, " My 
son, do you know that these firespying machines, 
(meaning the locomotives of the railroad), these abom- 
inable air-balloons, and telegraphic wires, are satanic 
inventions, and will bring great distress upon our 
church?" Not understanding him, I asked for an 
interpretation of his strange assertion. Continuing, 
he said '' Great danger arises to the Catholic Church 
from modern science and progress. Luther attempted 
to destroy our images, and progressive Protestantism 
aims to overthrow our altars." I just Avas thinking 
now, if the Catholic Church could not stand the test of 
modern sciences and civilization, it would be better for 
her to die, than live. If her doctrines relating to the 
Holy Eucharist are truth, she will live, if they are 
errors, she must die, because truth is destined to life 
and error is destined to death. In our enlightened 
age errors will disappear before the rising sun of 
science and righteousness. And the sooner faults and 
errors die, the better it will be for a scientific, chris- 
tian, moral people of " Liberty." Popery knew too 
well, that it soon would be challenged by advanced 
Protestant science, literature and philosophy to appear 
on the arena of this progressive age, and being aware 
of "its own weakness put on the armour of Infallibility 
as a cover against revolting blunders, and a shield 
against hostile attacks. 

But the term papal infallibility implies more than 



^^ SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

a mere defensive character against hostilities ; it alsa 
touches all matter, of faith and morals from the offen- 
sive standpoint in assuming for itself the all-saving 
power of mankind^ and denouncing all other christian 
denominations of the earth as heretics and schismatics^ 
who will be lost, unless they forsake their errors^ 
return to the church of Rome, rely upon each and all 
her proclaimed dogmas and die on her ecclesiastical 
bosom. In short, papal infallibility implies, that the 
Pope possesses the highest authority in every respect ; 
in dogmatical and moral, civil and governmental, and 
therefore an absolute obedience of his subjects in all 
things, which concern faith, morals, discipline and 
government, (it is boldly declared) is due to the Pope 
even at the peril of Salvation. At first appearance 
the insertion : "Papal Infallibility," may seem to be 
the strongest plank in the whole Roman system, 
however after a due examination it is found that it is. 
the weakest of all, and will only increase the velocity 
of Popery on the way to its final ruin. How can this 
modern attribute of papacy corroborate the real 
presence ? for it is a lie itself, as numerous facts in the 
various periods of ecclesiastical history evidently 
show. The present Pope foolishly permitted to have 
placed upon the papal spinal column of antiquity a 
ponderous pinnacle of adulterated gold, heavier than 
even the strongest of his successors will be able ta 
bear. His Holiness in the solemn proclamation of 
papal infallibility, armed only the cupola of the Apos- 
tolic Temple, leaving the entire edifice exposed to the 
heavy blows of adverse forces. But he could not 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 37 

avoid it very well, the Popish structure being com- 
pleted during the centuries 'of the past. Romanism 
may endeavor to draw proselytes to its communion 
tables, by teaching them that Christ is bodily present 
in the bread and wine, and for the purpose of sustain- 
ing its heavy losses, suffered in European countries. 
However protestantism is striving determinately to 
show that this doctrine is a fraudulent presumption of 
priesthood, and therefore continues striking at the 
two prodigious pillars : the " Holy Eucharist" and 
"Sacrifice of Mass." Sooner or later they will fall, 
cast off tower and cupola, and both breaking down in 
a terrific noise must throw into ruins, the garret^ roof, 
vault, ceiling and walls. 



CHAPTER IV. 

MY PRIESTLY ACTIVITY IN AVILLA, CONTINUED. — THE 
^^HOLY SACRIFICE OF MASS/^ — HISTORICAL, PHILO- 
SOPHICAL AND SPECULATIVE THEOLOGY. 

YOU must not expect that I will be able to explain 
controversially the Holy Eucharist in three or 
four chapters. Why ! to do this, it would take me 
ten years of labor and three hundred thousand sheets 
of paper in octavo. I would have to erase every 
atroke of my philosophical and speculative pen, com- 
mencing anew. Neither I, nor any human being can 
do justice to himself or give satisfaction to his readers 
on this mystical subject. Transubstantiation advanced 
by slow and gradual steps to maturity. Some of the 
partisans of the transubstantiation believed, some 
doubted and some speculated. Berengarius, Lombard, 
Aquinas, Gabriel, Erasmus, Guitmond and Algerius, 
varied widely in opinions among themselves. School- 
men subtilized theory into nonsense, and learned 
doctors brought all their attenuated discriminations 
into requisition on this mystery, and divided and sub- 
divided without end or meaning on the topics of matter, 
form, substance, and accidents. However, I will 
abandon the mystical and miraculous transubstantia- 
tion and devote other chapters to the '' Sacrifice of 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 39 

Mass," to give you an opportunity of practicnig your 
intellectual faculties on this mystical subject. Here I 
desire to remark, that the doctrine of the " Propitia- 
tory Sacrifice of the Mass is based upon the previous 
doctrine of transubstantiation ; and that if transub- 
.stantiation has been proved to be false, it is utterly 
impossible, that the Catholic teachings of ^' Mass" can 
Ibe proved to be true ; the latter resting for its strength 
and existence upon the former. We must make a 
distinction between the " Holy Eucharist" and the 
" Sacrifice of Mass." For the Catholic church con- 
tends, that the " Holy Eucharist" is not only a Sacra- 
ment, but a Sacrifice also : and this double mystery is 
accomplished in the " Mass." When Christ at the 
Last Supper said: ''This is my body," "This is my 
l)lood," he added: "T>o this for a commemoration of 
me." So the Catholic Church teaches, that Christ 
instituted a Sacrament and Sacrifice at the same time, 
showing that the four requsites for a sacrifice are 
€xisting, viz. First, ''For Grod's honor and glory;" 
Secondly, " In thanksgiving for all his benefits ;" 
Thirdly," For obtaining pardon of our sins ;" Fourthly, 
^' For obtaining all graces and blessings through Jesus 
Christ." 

But the Protestant Church contends, that mass is 
a matter of impossibility, for no purpose, without 
necessity and inconsistent with the sdripture, saying, 
Christ, our kind Saviour, paid the entire debt at once, 
(both principal and interest thereon for four thousand 
years in the past, and for all the generations and ages 
to come;) not a penny of either was left. There is 



40 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

no place, no necessity for a renewal of Christ's bloody 
sacrifice on the cross. When Christ said : " Do this 
in remembrance of me" he left a " token" under the 
appearance of bread and wine to his mourning children 
in a testamentary form, to be remembered by, until his. 
coming from the circles of heaven on the last day in. 
glory and majesty. 

The Catholic Church on her part has always under-^ 
stood and taught, " Do this in remembrance of me." 
He charged them and their successors in the priest- 
hood, that they should offer '' Him." 

Let me next refer to the Tridentine Canons on the 
^^ Mass." 1st Can, ''If any man shall say, that in 
the mass there is not offered to God a true and proper 
sacrifice, let him be anathema." 2d Can : " If any 
man shall say, that in these words : " Do this in 
remembrance of me," Christ did not appoint the 
apostles to be priests, or did not ordain that they and 
other priests should offer his body and blood, let him 
be accursed." 3rd Can: " If any man shall say, that 
the sacrifice of mass is only a sacrifice of praise made 
on the cross, and that it is not propitiatory, or that it. 
profits only the " Receiver," and that it ought not to 
be offered for the living and the dead, for his sins, etc.^ 
let him be anathema. And 4th Can : " If any man 
shall say, that by the sacrifice of the mass, blasphemy 
is offered to the most holy sacrifice of Christ accom- 
plished on the cross, or that it is dishonored, let him. 
be accursed." Such is the solemn doctrine of the 
Church of Rome upon this subject. 

Mass had an introduction into the Catholic Church,» 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 41 

and did not exist in her apostolic and primitive ages. 
It has taken from seven hundred to a thousand years 
to establish " Mass" in its present form. If the 
sacrifice of the mass had been known one hundred and 
forty years after Christ, in the days of Justin, Martyr, 
one of the most sainted of the fathers, no doubt he 
would have given a detailed and circumstantial account 
of its whole ceremonial. For in the II Volume, page 
97 Paris ed. 1615 of his celebrated Apology for the 
Christians, he gives a full description of the Sabbath 
service of the Christians in his era. I am sure, vou 
will be pleased to hear this beautiful extract from the 
practice of the early church. 

Let me give you the extract, translated from the 
French edition : '' Then the bread and the cup of 
water and of the wine mixed with it, is offered to the 
president of the brethren, and he, taking it, is offering 
praise and glory to the Father of all, in the name of 
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and at some length he 
performs a thanksgiving for having been honored with 
these things by Him. When he has finished the 
prayers and the thanksgiving, all the people present 
joyfully cry out. Amen. Amen signifies, so be it." 

But the president having returned thanks, and all 
the people having joyfully cried out, those who are 
called give to each of those present, a portion of the 
bread and the wine, and the water, over Avhich thanks- 
giving has been performed, and they carry away some 
for those who are not present. And this food is called 
by us the Eucharist ; of which no one is permitted to 
partake, but he who believes that the things taught 



42 SIuY YEARS A PRIEST; 

to US are true, and who has been washed for the 
remission of sins, and for regeneration, and ^ho lives 
as Christ has enjoined. For we do not receive these 
things as common bread or common wine, but as the 
incarnate Jesus became, by the word of God, Christ 
=and Saviour, and received flesh and blood for our sal- 
vation. So also we have been taught that the food, 
which is made the Eucharist by prayer, according to 
liis word, by which our flesh and blood are nourished, 
is both the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus. 
For the Apostles, in the histories which they have 
writtenj and which are called the Gospels, have thus 
Tecorded, that Jesus commanded them, that he, taking 
bread and giving thanks, said: ''Do this in remem- 
brance of me, this is my body,^^ and that in like 
manner, taking the cup and giving thanks, said : " This 
is my blood." 

And in all that we ofi'er, we bless the Maker of all 
things by his son, Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. 
And on the day that is called Sunday, there is an 
assembly in the same place, of those who dwell in 
towns, or iu" the country, and the histories of the 
Apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, 
whilst the time permits. Then, the reader ceasing, 
the president verbally admonishes and exhorts to the 
imitation of those good things. Then we all rise in 
common and offer thanks, and as we have already said, 
when we have finished our prayers, bread and wine, 
and water, are offered, and the president in like man- 
ner offers prayers and thanks, the people joyfully cry 
out Amen. And the distribution and communication 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 4a 

is to each of those who have returned thanks, and it 
is sent by the deacons to those who are not present. 
Those who are rich and willing, each according to his 
own pleasure, contributes what he pleases, and what is 
thus collected, is put away by the president, and he 
assists the orphans and widows, and those, who through 
sickness or any other cause, are destitute, and also 
those who are in bondage, and those who are strangers 
journeying, and in short, he aids all those who are in 
want. But we all meet in common on Sunday, because 
it is the first day in which God, w^ho produced the 
darkness and matter, made the world, and Jesus Christ,, 
our Saviour, on that day arose from the dead ^^ 

I will add to this, the inspired language of Paul in 
his first Epistle to the Corinthians, (XI. 23, 27), 
where he speaks of the Holy Eucharist. " For I have 
received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto 
you. That the Lord Jesus, the same night, in which 
he was betrayed, took bread ; and when he had givea 
thanks he brake it and said, ' Take, eat, this is mjr 
body which is broken for you : This do in remem- 
brance of me."' After the same manner also he took 
the cup, when he. had supped, saying: "This cup is 
the New Testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as 
ye drink it in remembrance of me." " For as often as 
ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the 
Lord's death till he come again. Wherefore, whoso- 
ever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the 
Lo¥d unworthily, shall be guilty of the body, and blood 
of the Lord." 

How does this biblical passage of the Prince of all 



44 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

Apostles, and that simple description of Justin, com- 
pare with the description of the mass, as it is cele^ 
brated in the Church of Rome ? viz : The priest who 
is about to calebrate mass should be clad with a Soutanne, 
and proceed to the place of the Sacristy, where the 
vestments^ suited to mass are prepared. Having washed 
his hands, and prepared the Chalice, the priest comes 
to put on the vestments, which should be more or less 
neat and precious, according to the rank or solemnity 
of the festival. He begins to make the sign of the 
cross. Takes the Amice, the Alb, the Cincture, the 
Maniple, the. Stole, and having put on these pieces, 
lastly he puts on the Chasuble, without kissing it, ties 
it with the strings, and now attired in the Sacredotal 
ornaments, the priest takes the chalice and proceeds 
to the Altar, with a grave and modest deportment, his 
body erect, his eyes cast down, holding the chalice as 
high as his breast, and proceeded by the server carry- 
ing the " Massal," etc., — (Missal for mass.) In Jus- 
tin's Apology, we read nothing about a priest, but merely 
" the president" and the congregation ; nothing about 
an altar on which sacrifice is ofi'ered ; nothing about 
the "Canon;'' nothing about the " Consecration and 
elevation of the Host ;" nothing about its being pro- 
pitiatory for the living and the dead ; nothing about 
the inclinations of the body of the priest, moderate 
and profound ; nothing of his genuflexions ; nothing 
of the dispositions of the hands and of the feet, the 
directions of the eyes, and the inflections of the voice ; 
nothing of the name of Mary, of other saints or of 
the reigning Pope ; nothing of the strange vestments 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 45 

of the sacrificer, (that he is dressed as no actor on the 
stage has ever been ;) nothing of that theatrical, dra- 
matical, and tragical operation and dumb show, that 
Catholic Priests have performed on their altars for the 
past four hundred years. But in the Roman Catholic 
Church, we read that the priest having arrived at the 
Altar, w^here he is to celebrate mass, stops before the 
steps, uncovers, gives his three-cornered cap to the 
server, and makes a profound inclination to the cross, 
or if the blessed Sacrament be in the Tabernacle, a 
Genuflection on the lowest step, without any other 
inclination : that he ascends the steps successively, 
until he reaches the middle of the Altar, and, having 
laid the chalice on the Altar, descends again to its 
foot, saying in the Latin language . " In the name of 
the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,'' 
at the same time makino; the siorn of the cross on him- 
self and continuing : '' I confess to Almighty God, to 
blessed Mary, ever virgin, to blessed Michael, the 
Archangel, to blessed John, the Baptist, the holy 
Apostles, Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, and thou^ 
0, Father, to pray for me," etc. ; then the priest 
returns to the middle of the altar, and says, (alterna- 
ting with the clerk) the " Kyrie Eleison^^^ (Lord have 
mercy on me), then the " Gloria in Excelsis^^^ at the 
end of which he kisses the Altar, turns about to the 
people, says, " Dominus Vobiscum/^ (" the Lord be 
mth you,") and whilst he pronounces these words, he 
extends his hands, rejoins them immediately and goes 
to the Epistle corner of the altar, praying an oration ; 
then ¥eads the Epistle and Gospel of the day, at the 



46 SIJT YEARS A PRIEST 



end of which he repeats the Nicene Creed, After the 
symbol, the priest kisses the altar again, in the middle^ 
and turns to the people in order to repeat '' Dominus 
Vohiscumf^ here follows the OjBFertory ; then the priest 
is to put wine and water into the chalice ; then there 
is an oblation of it, after which he bows ; then he 
incenses the altar ; then gives the censer to the deacon ; 
then washes his hands, and bows before the middle of" 
the altar ; then reads the Secret, etc. ; after whick 
follows the Canon of the Mass ; then making Genu-^ 
plexion, he adores and elevates the chalice : bowing he 
strikes his breast and prays for the dead ; then receives 
the consecrated wafer, holding the Chalice in his hands 
he prays, etc., etc. In addition to the above synopsis,. 
I will state further, that the sacrifice of mass is 
divided into four principal parts. The first part is 
from the beginingto the end of the " Crospel or Creed." 
The second is from the " Ofi'ertory" to the " Canon.'' 
The third is from the Canon to end of '' Pater Noster^^' 
and the fourth from the '' Pater Noster^^ to the 
end of mass. The contrast between the majes- 
tic announcement of the Apostle, folloAved by the 
simple and beautiful narrative of Justin, with the 
collection from the Rubrics of the Missal, in the 
Roman Catholic Church, necessary to the celcbratioa 
of mass, are so marked that, if St. Paul's is the in- 
spired description of the Lord's Supper, and Justin 
Martyr's a true statement of the celebration of the 
Eucharist in the second century, the ceremonial in the 
Missal must be a celebration of something totally and 
altogether different from it. " It is therefore, what the 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 47 

the Church of England justly denominates an exposi- 
tion '^f " a human invention, a blasphemous fable, and 
a dangerous deceit." And what I know by my OAvn 
experience and prudent observations as a priest among 
my fellow-priests, I am prepared to declare solemnly 
that " Mass" is an awful deceit, a veiled hypocrisy^, 
and a common infidelity on the part of the Roman 
clergy in our day. I venture to say, that one-fourtli 
of the Roman Catholic Priests reject secretly the real 
presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Without 
priestly faith. Mass is a Comedy, a ridiculous farce I 
Dear Catholic laity, you are served by a large number 
of unprincipled men, who perform every morning the 
most sacred mystery of your Altars, without believing 
sincerely in their mystical performances. 

When they speak confidentially to their fellow- 
priests, they say : " I hesitate to step out before the 
world as a target for Catholicism to shoot at," but they 
are not ashamed to rob the liberal pockets of their too 
confiding communicants, and of practicing sanctimo 
niously a ministerial dishonesty. 

Of course the Church of Rome quotes in defence 
of her doctrine relative to mass, from Malachi, I, II, 
Gen. XIV, 18, Luke XXII, 18-20, Math. XXVI, 28, 
I Cor. XI, 24-26, Heb. V., 6, Heb. VI, 6, etc. 

If the mass had been known to the Apostles or 
practiced by the early christians, or recognized as a 
doctrine taught by the word of Grod in the Apostolic 
age, we would find an account of it, no doubt, in the 
Epistles to Timothy and Titus, where we have all the 
details of christian worship, and also in the Act of the 



48 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Apostles, where we have an express description of 
primitive christian Sabbaths. It is not at all probable 
that these books would have been silent upon so great 
a peculiarity in christian worship, that there should be 
no allusion to those complicated rites of the Roman 
Catholic Church. 

The quotations they make use of are weightless, 
^s arguments in their favor, as I shall take occasion to 
show at a time not far distant. 

But of all disproofs of the mass, the most weighty 
und triumphant are to be found in Paul's Epistle to the 
Hebrews. This sublime epistle has been written pros- 
pectively it seems to me, to crush one day this corrupt 
and erroneous doctrine of the Sacrifice of Mass, in 
the Roman Catholic Church. 

The Apostle teaches throughout the whole epistle, 
that there is but one propitiatory sacrifice ; one offered 
for all the sins that are passed, and for all the sins of 
the coming generations. It is a complete sacrifice, and 
to profess to ofi'er any other, is not only to make it 
void with respect to the offering, but to offer dishonor 
to God. The Catholic Church teaches, that mass is a 
propitiatory sacrifice. In order to offer a propitiatory 
sacrifice there must be a priest. The priests of the 
Roman Catholic Church declare that they are strictly 
and properly such priests, and that they have inherited 
the faculty and right of sacrificing from Christ him- 
self. But the Apostle says, that Jesus Christ has " an 
unchangeable priesthood, Sacerdotium, quod ad alium 
transire nequit, a priesthood which cannot pass over 
(from one) to another person, as it is defined by 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 49 

Stephanus and many other learned Theologians and 
Commentators. In St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, 
chapter VII, 27, IX, 12, 25, 26, we read thus : "Who 
needed not daily^ (as those high priests offer up sacri- 
fice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's,) 
for this he did once when he offered up himself." By 
his own blood he entered once into the holy place. 
Nor yet, '^ that he should offer himself often^'' etc. 
Further, if I understand St. Paul in this Epistle, cor- 
rectly, he argues thus . " Where there u a propitiatory 
offering there must be a painful suffering,^' If there- 
fore the priests of Rome offer up Christ as a propitia- 
tory sacrifice, they must crucify the Lord of Glory 
a-new, and drag him again through his pangs, his 
-agony, woe and death. 

But if there is no such devotion of Christ to cor- 
poral suffering, then there can be no offering. The 
Roman Church maintains there is a propitiatory 
sacrifice saying : " Mass" is a " Perpetual show of 
the death of Christ," it is not a mere representation of 
the sacrifice ; Christ in the mass sheds his blood mys- 
tically. " If he sheds his blood mystically he suffers 
mystically, and dies mystically." The same church 
maintains that " Mass is that sacrifice which ' He' 
commanded and empowered his Apostles and their 
successors to offer, till the end of the world." That 
Jesus Christ offers himself in behalf of his believers, 
as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, as a sacrafice of pro- 
pitiation, and as a sacrifice of Impetration," in short 
that mass answers to the four ends of sacrifice. I 
cannot help but feel that it would be as blasphemous 



50 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

to claim the inheritance of the priesthood of Christy 
as it would be to claim the inheritance of his omnipo- 
tence, his omnipresence, his omniscience, or any other 
essentially Divine attribute. 

In Holy writ wo find that we are called priests, as 
christians. " Ye are a royal Priesthood.'^ '' He had 
made us Kings and Priests unto God," and as we are 
priests so we offer up spiritual sacrifices of praise and 
prayer acceptable to Grod through Jesus Christ ; but 
the expression " Priest" is not once applied to a 
christian minister, as distinguished from the laity, in 
the whole of the New Testament Scriptures. In the 
terms hieseus, in Greek and '' Sacerdos''^ in Latin, are 
not used in this sense. The original Reformers of 
the Church of England, therefore, have used not the 
Greek Meseus or Latin Sacerdos^ both of which properly 
signify priest ; but they have adopted in each instance 
the greek word loreshyteros^ which signifies an elder or 
minister, and this term is used in every place where 
the Rubrics of the Anglican church now have the 
word ^^Priest." 

'' Where there is no priest there is no sacrifice."" 
The so-called priests in the Catholic Church are min- 
isters of the Gospel, proclaimers of Christ's kingdom 
upon earth ; nothing more and nothing less, (at least 
this is what they ought to be ;) they have never been 
high priests in Christ's Church, and never will be. 

According to St. Paul's solemn declaration Christ's 
sacrifice on the cross was complete and 07ice for all. 
Oh, Blessed Lord, we thank Thee graciously that we 
as protestants are enabled by the Divine Light of 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 61 

^Bible truth, to see that thy saerifice on the cross was 
s>o complete, perfect and glorious, that it was adequate 
for the redemption of the whole world. 

About seventy millions of masses are read in each 
decade by Catholic priests. Poor, poor catholics ye 
are, that you have a sacrifice so feeble and inefficacious 
that it needs to be offered up a thousand and again a 
hundred thousand times, before it is able to brino: one 
single soul out of the sufferings of purgatory. Your 
faith in it is sin, but I wot that through ignorance ye 
do it. May the Lord bless and reward you your 
liberality in your faithful ignorance. I know that the 
millions and millions of dollars which pious catholics 
have given their priests, hona-fide^ to redeem the souls 
of their departed friends from purgatory, by saying 
mass, are spent in vain. Clerical friends in the church 
of our dear fathers and ancestors, be honest, go by 
principles, suffer in poverty, die in want if need be, 
hut be honest ! in so doing Grod will bless you, and 
take care of you. Pray, study, read, compare, put 
on the armour of christian integrity ; fight among 
Christ's noble soldiery, and promote true Bible 
Christianity. 

Not long ago a protestant lady said to me : -^^ Sir, 
^e are living here all surrounded by Roman Catholics, 
.and it seems to me th^y are going to mass all the 
time, Sundays and weekdays too, for whenever I ask 
one, when passing with a big prayer-book under her 
arm, where are you going ? she will answer, ' to Mass:' 
Well, my dear madam, I replied, 'Mass is the sub- 
stance and body of worship in the Roman Catholic 



m ' SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

service, constituting, on the one hand, the great dis- 
tinction of the Church of Rome, in contrast to all the 
churches of the Reformation, and forming on the other 
the great basis of the Faith and hopes of the Romaa 
Catholic worshiper." ' If it be false, all Popery is. 
an awful superstition and satanic blasphemy ; if it be 
true, we as Protestants are in a critical position and 
in instant jeopardy."' Looking at me surprisingly^ 
she said : " Sir, what do you mean, are you in earnest V^ 
" Yes, madam, I am," I replied " Please, sir, tell 
me what kind of a monster 'Mass' is? Last week 
I attended mass for the first time, but I did not under- 
stand one bit of it. The priest kept on mourning ia 
latin, and I looked at him, wondering Avhich was the 
greatest simpleton he or I. He performing away, not 
explaining anything, I not understanding anything and 
gaping at him. He seemed to be very nervous, for he 
was constantly moving about, sometimes turning one 
way and then another, then around, put on such grim- 
ances, that I first thought the poor man was weepings 
The next time I watched him more closely ; he 
stretched out his hands, looking straight at me, saying r 
" Domina, won't you come ? " (" Domina Vobiscum.^^) 
I felt disgusted. He wore garments such as I never 
saw before. A big crosiii in red silk on his back, the 
vestment itself in the form of a white silk sacque, and 
"underneath he wore a long white shirt of linen, hang- 
ing down to his toes. His face was as round as a full 
moon and as red as a bottle of North American port 
wine, of the best quality. 

" Tell me, do the Catholics understand this um- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 63 

meaning ceremony?^' ^'Indeed, madam, it is so 
mysterious that I have not yet heard of one who 
understood it/^ 

" Now, sir, let me ask you a few more questions; 
perhaps I have asked too many already,, but you will 
bear with my ignorance." 

" What power has the priest to work such a mira- 
cle as to change a little wafer into the real body and 
blood of Christ ?" '' Madam, his power is a chimerical 
self-deception, if anything ; nothing else." 

" How do Catholics come then to the term mass^ 
and what do all these manoeuvres mean ?" 

" Mrs. M., the true origin of mass would seem to 
be this : At the close of the service in the Latin or 
Western Church, when the Holy Communion was to be 
celebrated and the ordinary ritual of the day was done, 
the priest addressed the people and said ' Missa esty 
that is, ' The congregation is dismissed f then followed 
the communion for those we call members or commu- 
nicants. From this expression ' llissa est^^ being thus 
anciently used previous to the celebration of com- 
munion, the communion came to be called ' Missa* 
and in english, ' Mass.' " 

While we were conversing, and in the mean time 
several ministers of the gospel had come in, and they 
desired that the conversation should continue, as they 
each wished to hear more on this subject. 

After having given instruction on the subject for 
about one hour and a half, some one remarked : "Yes, 
it is a mass, indeed, a great mass of confusion, so 
that even the most learned Divines in the Catholic 



M SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Church are not able to understand one another in this 
mystery." 

I also contend that the mass cannot be a sacrament 
and a sacrifice at the same time ; asserting, that there 
is not a single evidence throughout the whole scripture 
to justify their doctrine, or that there are any ofiicially 
sacrificing priests in the church, and I hereby pray 
that through the power of Almighty God and the 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Fellowship 
of the Holy Spirit, the assistance of christian minis- 
ters, and the ardent prayers of the whole protestant 
church, and do challenge the Roman Catholic Clergy, 
Monks and Jesuits, upon the arena of controversy, to 
inquire and examine into corruption, and to restore a 
pure Bible Religion. Oh, the nineteenth century will 
be the greatest of all ! The darkness of the middle 
ages has passed away ; the sun of truth and righteous- 
ness is rising ; the days of reconciliation are near ; 
the conversion of all nations is at hand. Rome and 
London, Petersburg and New York, Turkey, China 
and Japan, are joining hands in the grand march to 
the grander jubilee in the coming century. One God ! 
One Christ! One Bible! 0:ie Truth! One Chris- 
tianity ! Lord, hasten the coming of that glorious 

day. 

" Quand toutes les nations 

Du monde riunirout^ 

Dans leurs Opinions 

Pures Chritiennes en Masse .^ " 




AUGUSTINIAN CANON 



CHAPTER V. 

THE " HOLY SACRIFICE OF MASS," — CONTINUED. 

The illiterate Catholics are Tools of Priestcraft, hut the in- 
telligent reject the dumb show of 3Iass, etc. — Rome is 
utterly impotent to defend the Absurdities of Mass — and 
is sliding headlong from her Seven Hills to ruin, etc. 



^ ^ I \0 this in remembrance of me," or "Do this for a 
I 7 commemoration of me/' as given in the Catho- 
lic bible translation. Rome asserts that Christ has insti- 
tuted in these words the Sacrifice of Mass, and that 
the Catholic Priest, by Apostolic Succession, is the 
ordained minister to commemorate this mystery. And 
BO truly are these assertions or doctrines, of the church 
Ibelieved, by a large majority of catholics, that they 
insist that the moment the priest pronounces the words 
^' Hoc est enim Corpus meum^^^ (''For this is my body,") 
that very moment the pure wheat flour and water, in 
the shape of a wafer, becomes literally, and truly, and 
substantially, the very flesh, blood, soul, and deity of 
the Son of God. But suppose you say to him, see 
Jiere, " It looks like a wafer ; it tastes like one, it 
smells like a wafer, it crumbles like a baked wafer, 
of flour and water." What will he answer to your 
protestation against this doctrine. " That may all be 



56 SIX YEARS A PRIEST 



SO, but Christ said it was changed ; the church teaches 
so ; the priest tells us so ; and although our senses are 
all betrayed, yet it is so ; we cannot refuse implicit 
faith to our infallible and holy Mother." Then you 
may ask how it is brought about, or to pass, he will 
answer : '' By the power of Almighty God invested in 
the priest." Ah, yes, we admit that everything is. 
possible to God, but contend that it is against his infi- 
nite wisdom to do this thing, viz : " Christ is entire in 
every dust and particle, that may be in or about the 
wafer, and for this very reason, countless millions of 
these separated particles have been wasted since mass 
has been in existence, and will be from day to day at 
your altars, and no one will conclude that Christ will 
subject himself to such treatment, when no good is to 
be derived from it, to any one. I was a priest myself 
and therefore know how it happens. 

Besides the ^'Corporal," the priest uses a little 
linen cloth called " Purificatory ^^^ to wipe out the cup,, 
w^hich has been filled with the wine or blood. It is his 
duty to wash these Purificatories himself, as no woman 
is allowed to do so. After having washed them in 
fresh w^ater several times, he carries it to the east end 
of the church and pours it into an apperture dug under 
the high altar. Noav this wash-water must, and does 
contain the wine or blood, which, of necessity remains 
in the chalice, and also the crumbs or dust of the- 
consecrated wafer which he broke over the chalice, 
before taking it ; and hence you will readily see that 
many bodies must perish, or be exposedto flies, worms, 
insects, and mice. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 57 

These are facts presented just as they are, and 
things which cannot be avoided even by conscientious 
and scrupulous priests. I once sa^Y a very scrupulous 
priest stop as if he were hesitating to pour out this 
sacred water, with its more sacred contents, and on 
asking him, why he was meditating so long over the 
act, replied : '' Oh, I hope that Christ is not present 
in every particle of the blessed Sacrament, and some- 
times I think it is a sacrilege to believe, that he is 
bodily dwelling in our wafers and wine. For, if it is 
so, we expose daily, millions of the precious bodies of 
our Saviour to the brutes." He looked at me so seri* 
ously, saying: ''I have such a struggle to believe in 
this dogma of our church, and I wish that I never had 
been ordained a priest. My dear catholic friends, I 
assure you that every third or fourth priest denies the 
possibility of the "Real Presence." Do you think 
that Christ, in his Infinite Wisdom, seeing this all 
before, would permit himself to be treated thus ? God 
is merciful, kind, and submissive to all the wants of 
humanity, but at the same time he regards his holiness 
and all the attributes of His infinitely high position 
inviolable. 

Though I have read of earthly kings and princes 
being kind, bonevolent, and submissive to their subjects, 
treating them with a freedom and intimacy of a friend, 
yet I have never heard or read of the kindest monarch 
permitting himself to be dragged by his subjects 
through the streets or gutters. Yes, there are noble 
souls who are ever exerting themselves for the good 
and comfort of others, and I thank God that such 



68 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

exist in this cold and generally insensible world. But 
no one is or has been found, that will submit to such 
treatment from the hands of even his dearest friend, 
and I know if Christ, our everlasitng king, dwells in 
the Eucharist bodily, he is constantly subject to such 
contemptible treatment. 

Since I left and rejected the Roman Catholic 
doctrines, especially in this of the ^' Real Presence," 
I feel, yes, know that he lives in me, and I in him, that 
through the power of the Holy Ghost I am in constant 
communion with him. And while in this mystical 
doctrine of the Catholic Church you rely upon the 
power of Almighty Grod, I prefer to rely on his In- 
finite Wisdom and Holiness. 

It is said : " Do this in remembrance of me." Now 
memory refers to something that is absent, not to a 
thing that is present. Christ ascended into heaven 
with a glorified body, and there he is bodily present, 
as the scripture asserts, at the right hand of his 
father making intercession for us. '' There is one 
God and one Mediator between God and man — the 
man Christ Jesus." I. Tim. II: 5. 

The Roman church also asserts that the priest- 
hood shows forth the Lord's death until he come. This 
implies that he is not yet come personally, that he w^U 
come again in the future, and is personally absent in 
body. Some of the ancient and most evangelical 
fathers show the doctrine of transubstantiation had no 
place in their views ^f the Eucharistic elements; I 
refer you here to St. Augustine, a Father much relied 
on by Roman Catholic Divines, and frequently quoted 



ONE DEqADE A PROTESTANT. 59- 

to prove the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Please 
open the Benedictine Edition, Paris, 1686, Vol. Ill r 
53, and there you will find this . '' Why do you prepare 
your teeth, and your stomachs ? Believe only^ and you 
will have eaten. This therefore is to eat the food and 
to drink that cup, namely : to abide in Christ and to 
have Christ abiding in you, and for this reason he who 
does not abide in Christ, and in w^hom Christ does not 
abide, beyond all doubt, does not spiritually eat his flesh, 
or drink his blood, although he carnally presses with 
his teeth the communion of the body and blood of 
Christ." From Isidore, a Bishop, who lived in the 
seventh century, it may be evidently seen, that he 
teaches that Christ is figuratively present in the bread 
and wine : '' All things painted or sculptured are 
called by the name of those persons or things of whicL 
they are resemblances : It is said, ' That is Cicero ; 
that is Sallust ; I saw Augustine.' Although they are 
nothing else than the painted images, etc." The lan- 
guage of these ancient Fathers is so plain, that it can- 
not be denied that our protestant interpretation of 
the words in question as figurative was held also at 
such an early date. However it is a doctrine of the 
church to-day, and one which if its falseness is shown 
and accepted, has much to do in the reformation of 
the Church of Rome, for the ignorant and confiding 
mass of that body believe fully and conscientiously 
that it is true; that the flour and water Avhich the 
priest consecrates, contains the ^^ Corpus Christi^^ in. 
the whole and in every part of the whole, and if fifty 
thousand of the broken parts, or particles were scat- 



60 SIX YEARS A PRJ^EST; 

tered to the remotest confines of the globe, or buried 
in the depths of the sea, the Lord, Avhole and entire 
would be in each of the fifty thousand particles. But 
a large number of the intelligent catholics, especially 
in this country, refuse their faith in this mystery, either 
secretly or openly. They are dissatisfied with the 
mummery of muttered masses. They do not attend 
them, nor confess their sins or receive communion, 
although the five commandments of the church demand 
of them, by pain of excommunication, to hear mass 
every Sunday ; to go to confession and holy commun- 
ion once a year, at least. Still, they remain in con- 
nection with the church, arguing that it is just as good 
and safe as any other branch, and that they hope to 
reach heaven without mass, confession, and communion. 
And yet, you know my friends, that mass " Is the 
key-stone" of your church doctrines ; take that out 
and the structure will fall. You have no more right 
in your church without faith in the " Real Presence'^ 
in the consecrated wafer, than a regiment of soldiers 
or a band of robbers have in j^our sanctuary. What you 
are, be with a wholeness of heart. Let me ask you to 
read carefully in the third chapter of Revelations, 
where St. John writes to the Laodiceans. " He that 
hath an ear to hear let him hear what the Spirit saith 
unto the churches ;" " And unto the angel (or minister) 
of the church of the Laodiceans, write : these things 
saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the 
beginning of the creation of God ; I know thy works, 
that thou art neither cold or hot ; I would thou wert 
cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 61 

neither cold or hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, 
because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with 
goods, and have need of nothing ; and knowest not 
that Thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and 
blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold 
tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white 
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the 
shame of thy nakedness do not appear ; annoint thine 
eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many 
as I love I rebuke and chasten : Be zealous, therefore, 
and repent. "Behold I stand at the door and knock, 
if any man hear my voice and open the door I will 
come in to him and sup with him, and he with me." 
" To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me 
on my throne, even as I am, sit down with my Father 
on his throne." (Rev. Ill : 13, 21, inclusive.) Try to 
be a true and spiritual christian, and I assure you that 
you will enjoy a celestial peace in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. You may feel that you cannot bear the idea 
of striking at the foundation of your ancient mother 
church. I felt it myself; and it is a situation both 
painful and unpleasant. Yet you will not be able to 
save Rome from her final destruction, even with your 
adhesive, protective energy, since she has shown her- 
self utterly impotent to defend the absurdities of 
doctrines heretofore promulgated; but adds another: 
^.' Infallibility," personated in the mind and body of a 
man. 

Rome is sliding down headlong from her seven 
liills to ruin and destruction. One century of steam, 
and mental power is sufficient to hurl all the papal 



62 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

errors into atoms, and pulverous oblivion ; and when 
that Catholic lecturer at St. Louis, says : " Protestant- 
ism is on its last legs," he forgets, poor man, that 
Catholicism has hardly any legs at all ; for it is so 
covered with sores and gangrene that its wisest phy- 
sicians recently advised immediate amputation far 
above the knee, in order to save the life of its cor- 
rupted body a little longer. 

But what does this Avonderful church do with such 
as deny the "Real Presence" and stay away from 
mass, confession, and communion ? Does she excom- 
municate them as threatened ? No, indeed not ! Rome 
is a church of policy, secrecy, and mystery, in more 
than one respect. Now-a-days she tolerates in 
America even her nominal members. But she will 
expiate them as soon as she gains sufficient power. 
What I say in regard to the belief and disbelief of 
members of the Catholic Church, is said from knowledge 
obtained, and personal experience, during my priestly 
functions, with very many reliable sources. In 1862, 
during a " Mission week," it happened that from eight 
to ten men abstained from receiving the Holy Com- 
munion, although they had prepared for it by going to 
confession. The Bishop of the Diocese being there 
for a few days, I mentioned the fact to him. He 
answer me, " That it was my duty as their pastor to 
look into the cause." On doing so, I found that all 
abstained on account of disbelief. 

During the next day, the Missionary brought into 
my room a young man, saying, by way of introduc- 
tion, '' Sir, here is a miserable fool, who does not 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 6^ 

believe that the body of Christ dwells in a wafer con- 
secrated by a priest; have you more such ignorant^ 
daring characters in your congregation ?" The mis- 
sionary leaving the room soon, I noticed my parish- 
ioner trembling with anger, and his face pale as a 
ghost. In the mean time the dinner bell rang. I 
invited my new guest to come and dine with the 
Reverend gentlemen who were visiting me at that 
time. He angerly replied, "No! at some other time 
I will be pleased to do so, but I would rather sit down 
with the roughest coachman, than with that Jesuit, 
who, though a good orator in the pulpit, has not yet 
learned the first step in etiquette. He must know 
that he was teaching and preaching in America, and 
not in an Austrian mission field. ^' 

Handing him a cigar I asked him to wait until I 
would have eaten my dinner. The cigar seemed to 
pacify him for the time. He lighted it and settled 
down in his mind. I left. 

On retiring from the table after dinner, the mis- 
sionary father said to me " Can you do anything with 
that goat of a man ? I could not do anything with 
him; he made me so angry that I could have slapped 
him in the face. These so-called half-learned or half- 
wise men are the worst of all men to get along with. 
They think they know everything, and if it comes to 
the point you soon find that they have not learned the 
first step or letter in the religious alphabet, obedience.*^ 

I think this man is a counter person to the man in 
Grermany, who visited his pastor every Sunday after- 
noon, asked, that he would commence a series of 



64 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

debates on Bible questions. At last the Rev. Father 
being very tired of, and having declined so often to 
grant the wag's request, said: ''You come at three 
o'clock this afternoon and bring your Bible along." 
The tailor, for such was the man's occupation, happily 
accepted, and appeared at the appointed hour. The 
mutual agreement was, that each one should ask a 
question in turn. The Reverend father being permit- 
ted to have the first opportunity. 

" Sir, said he, do you remember of ever having 
read in your Bible, of an angel descending from 
heaven, putting one foot on the shores of the rising 
sun, and the other foot on. the banks of the setting 
sun?" The tailor thought he had; but not being able 
to quote the passage correctly, began searching for it. 
" Oh, never mind, said the clergyman, pleasantly, 
it is not necessary to find it. I learned to-day, from 
a mysterious source, that the pantaloons of that same 
angel are nearly worn out, and I wish to buy him a 
new pair — and as your occupation is the tailor's trade, 
I thought you might be able to tell me how many 
yards of cloth I would need to get for such a present ? 
It must take anyway several thousand yards, and I do 
not wish to buy more than you will really need." 

The Bible tailor, as may be expected, took his book 
and went home, never to return for the second debate. 

Now we must treat all such as these with utter 
contempt. It is the only safe way after all ; for you 
can do nothing with them ; nothing else ; if they will 
go to the devil, let them go without argument, as one 
would not help them any, after they begin to doubt." 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 65 

I returned to the young man in my room, began 
the subject, for the purpose of pacifying him, when he 
replied : " Father, it is of no use. I hope you will 
forgive me my sincerity in this case. But I must tell 
you, I think it all a humbug in the Catholic Church to 
teach the doctrine of Transubstantiation, and I assure^ 
you, that almost one-half of the men in our congrega- 
tion are on the same footino; with me in reorard to this 
l^elief; it is impossible forme to believe it, and unless 
I can go to heaven without, I must be lost. I believe 
in a spiritual Christ present in the ^' Holy Communion,'^ 
but beyond that I cannot go.'' He promised me he 
ivould forgive the missionary for the insult offered 
liim, and receiving the Communion spiritually, en- 
deavor to be a good christian. How could I instruct 
one to believe in a dogma which I myself did not 
"believe ? So we parted. 



CHAPTER VL 

MASS — CONTINUED. 

In Rome's corruption itself lies the principal fault, — Why so 
many of her priests^ students^ and intelligent members 
abandon that Church. — The graces obtained in Mass are 
overvalued. — Saintship of Catholic Priests;. — Holy Com- 
munion a Farce, 

MY disbelief in the "Real Presence'^ of Christ in 
the Blessed Sacrament, was not a phenomenon 
of sudden doubt, or the result of one-sided reflection. 
It was not rooted in early education, or a tendency to 
scepticism, nor was it caused by scrupulosity on one 
hand, or by immorality on the other ; but the reason 
of my doubts is to be found in the nature of the doc- 
trine itself, relating to the Holy Eucharist, and in my 
desire and search after the truth, in my prayers for 
light on this subject, and above all in the constant flut- 
tering of the Divine Dove about me. It Avas my joyful 
and blessed pleasure to have the following words of 
our Glorious Saviour fulfilled. " Ask and ye shall 
recieve," and I praise thee, Father, that thou hast 
heard my fervent sighs, touched my aching heart, and 
opened my eyes. 

I had been baptised at a Roman Catholic font, when 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 67 

lut an infant twenty-four hours old, and brought up 
according to the strictest ordinances of that church, 
trained on the bosom of her faith till my thirty-sixth 
year, and between six and seven years of this time I 
wore the sacerdotal robe ; (having never to my recol- 
lection seen a protestant until my fourteenth year of 
age) and though doubting some essential dogmas of 
my mother church, I endeavored to the utmost to be a 
conscientious priest, particularly in the first three 
years of my priesthood, and never ceased to try while 
in connection with the church. 

According to my abilities I taught and preached the 
doctrines of that church, admonished the children to 
obey their parents, and those who brought them into 
the world, to set a good example before their beloved 
ones, to raise them in the fear and love of Grod. 

I visited the sick, attended the dying, pointed them 
to the '^Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of 
the world," and to the land of rest and everlasting 
jeace, whenever I was called. Also knocked on the 
door of the humble cottages of the poor, just as well as 
of the fine homes of the rich ; made no distinction 
between Catholics, Protestants or Infidels, so far as 
any general treatment of them was concerned, and in 
my social life never allowed myself to indulge incau- 
tiously in pleasures, or to use drinks of any kind, to 
intoxication. 

As far as my personal acquaintance with priests 
extends, during my priesthood in the church, (and it 
embraces something over one thousand in number) 
there are none who do not drink intoxicating drinks. 



&8 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

I also appeared every morning, with very few excep- 
tions, on the altar, to say mass, praying, weepings 
struggling, to believe in all the doctrines, but I could 
not. In the center of my soul, in the marrow of my 
bones, I felt what a misery, what an agony of con- 
science, that church in deviating from the channel of 
her original Bible truth, could bring upon the minds of 
fervently clerical devotees. No pen can write it, no 
tongue can utter that misery ! And now I feel how 
Rome points the finger of scorn at me, saying indig- 
nantly : " Ah, what are you to-day but a protestant,, 
a very little better than a sceptic.'^ But I can. 
answer in truth, that Rome is little better than Unita^ 
rianism ; for as the latter denies the Divinity of Christy 
so the formxcr makes the Virgin and Saints equal to 
Him. Almost one-third of the mass is devoted to the 
invocation of Saints. In Rome's corruption itself 
lies the principal reason, why so many of her priests^ 
students, intelligent and best members are turning; 
away from the bosom of their ancient mother to live 
and die on the loving heart of an open Bible religion. 
We venture to say, that since the proclamation of 
Papal Infallibility, December 8th, 1869, two thousand 
priests, ten thousand scholars, noted for learning and 
wisdom, and being engaged in the departments ci 
advanced education; moreover,, that one million of 
people have left •' Romanism" and joined protestant- 
ism ; also, that ten millions of Catholics are at present 
virtually swimming between the boundaries of the 
Roman Catholic and Protestant faith in the Europeaa 
and American countries. If Rome could abandon her 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 69 

irreconcilable ^^ Non Possumus^' — we cannot — an 
evangelical union throughout the world might be 
effected, but since she cannot change the channel of 
her solemnly proclaimed infallibility without immediate 
self-destruction, she will be held responsible for the 
bloody results that will arise to the nations of the 
earth from her Eucharistic impossibilities and infallible 
absurdities. 

How absurd it is to teach as follows ! The Church 
of Rome, on explaining the ''Nature," the ''Necessity 
and End'' of the sacrifice of mass, says : " It is the 
most sacred, solemn, and sublime act of i;eligious 
worship, that we can perform ; the most pleasing to 
God, and the most advantageous to us. It is the most 
inestimable treasure provided for us by the divine 
goodness, for one mass heard well, is sufficient to 
enrich souls with special graces, and to make us Saints.'^ 
NoAV we do not w^onder this being true, that the Cath- 
olic Church has so many Saints, and the Protestants 
none, (canonized), and fear, that ^-he enrollment of 
many millions in the Popish Saintology cannot be at- 
tended to, on account of pressure for time. 

May I, as an humble protestant christian, advise 
your Pontifical Holiness, to issue an order to have 
this most important and yet neglected, business of 
Canonization executed at once, in order to redeem 
your predecessors from purgatory, Avho are still 
retainedthere for having neglected this duty while in or 
during their Papal administration, and also to prevent 
your highness from ever coming to that place of refin- 
ing fire. 



•^0 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

But alas ! for the Catholic Saints; they are never 
sure of retaining their honorary title. Charlemagne 
was honored with this high office, when afterward 
French Bishops revolted against this canonized saint, 
claiming that he was too dirty for his sainted position. 
Pius IX released first the French Catholics from the 
adoration of this saint, then the Germans revolted 
against having him on their list of saints. Finally, 
His Infallibility, itself got angry at the saint, revoked 
and ordered him to be stricken from the pages of 
Saintology. * 

But. as mass is the most inestimable treasure of 
enriching the soul with special graces, and making its 
^sacrificers and hearers saints in twenty minutes, (the 
time necessary to say or hear a mass) pray, tell me 
how it comes, that so many Catholic Priests, the daily 
servants on the altar of the church, are just the oppo- 
*site of a Saint? They are now, and have been for 
■one thousand years, as history shows, with few excep- 
tions, great Saints in their egotistic individuality, 
•adulterers in their pretended celibacy, drunkards in 
their sacerdotal robes, executors of hypocrisy, and 
bigots in their conventical secrecy. These words I 
quote as heard from the lips of an earnest priest, who 
left a convent in Europe in 1868, and came to this 
<30untry, is now officiating in the church, and is a favo- 
rite with his Bishops, as well as a friend to myself. 

^'If Mass is the most sacred, solemn and sublime 
■act of religious worship upon earth, why is it that a 
large number, perhaps the majority of priests, hurry 
through it so speedily, and especially if the performer . 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 71 

is a saint, the act would not only be contemptible but 
criminal.'' It is not seldom when two or three priest 
are saying mass, at the different altars in the same 
church and at the same time, that they run a race, (like 
the students of Harvard and Yale in their centennial 
regattas :) The devout hearers in the pews, w^ith their 
prayer-books before them, cannot keep up with their 
priestly race horse, that is galloping in the latin with 
5uch speed, that they are not able to rattle off half 
the mass prayers prescribed in their books. 

But listen ! I hear devout Catholics defend the 
sacrilegious habits of their priests by accusing the 
w^riter with violating the truth ; nevertheless it is a 
fact. Permit me to call your attention to cases in your 
own knowledge — when priests wished to attend any- 
thing which was to occur during the early part of the 
day, viz : a pic-nic ; hunting party ; a marriage ban- 
quet, and indeed any other entertainment. 

I will also refer to a book translated from the 
Italian into German, by a priest, the title of which is, 
''Die Helligung des PriestersJ^ '^ Sometimes priests 
use for saying mass from twelve to fourteen minutes 
'Only, when twenty-five is required to perform it well." 
'' Several, who have practiced this bad habit, have met 
with sudden death." ''To hurry through the most 
solemn act of Catholic worship, is not among the rare 
occurrences of the day," (page 254). The majority of 
priests in rehearsing their " Breviary" thrice a day, 
too often employ the steam power of a centennial 
train on its way to San Francisco, at the rate of forty 
;miles an hour. What a devotion ! how their sacerdotal 



72 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

tongues, teeth, and jaws must ache' after the comple- 
tion of such a rattling journey ! Such men, though, 
wearing clerical garments, cannot be in earnest about 
the welfare of immortal souls, or the Catholic religion. 
They are but hirelings, which, if their mass Stipends 
were taken away, or their salaries cut down, would 
soon forsake the Catholic altars. In thy name, Lord^ 
I implore that the Catholic people may be so educated 
and enlightened, as to see the intrigues of their clergy, 
and comprehend the folly of their own improper- 
tenacity to such a Faith, wherein the sacrament itself, 
as a whole, is not only cTorrupted to mean something 
else, than that which was designed by its Giver, but 
where it has been divided, and only a part, the bread, 
administered the people. For in the Church of Rome 
the sacramental cup is not administered to the laity, 
neither to the non-officiating clergy. 

Communion in one kind ; the child of transubstan- 
tiation, consists in the administration of the bread 
only. That communion in one kind is contrary to 
scripture, has been granted by popish doctors and 
learned councils. Such is the admission of Pascal, 
Bellarmine, Erasmus, Cajetan, of ancient, and of 
Bossuet, Petavius, Challenor, and Milner, of more 
modern times. This new doctrine was established as 
an article of faith, as late as the year 1415, in the 
Council of Constance, after considerable disturbance, 
which it had caused, and the withdrawal of sixty mil- 
lions of Greeks from the Church of Rome, at an earlier- 
date. Half communion is not only contrary to scrip- 
ture, but to usages of the early and middle ages.. 



ONE DECADE A FRO TESTA XT. 73 

Among the unquestionable authorities who testify for 
the whole communion of primitive times, w^e find the 
names of Ignatius, Justin, Chrysostom and Jerome, 
In the year 1095, Pope Urban, while presiding in the 
Council of Clerment, consisting of Cardinals, Bishops, 
Abbots, and a multitude of other persons, commanded 
the separate reception of the Lord's body and blood, 
Pascal so late as 1118, A. D., issued similar enact- 
ments, on this topic to that of Urban and his adherents. 
OurLordhimself, said the '^ Papal hierarch," dispensed 
the bread and wine each by itself; and this usage vfe 
teach and command the holy church always to observe. 

The half-communion of the Latin church differs 
from the customs of all other christians at the present 
day. The Greeks, Nestorians, Jacobites, Armenians, 
and Syrians, condemn the Romish mutilation of the 
communion, which entered the church or Christendom 
at that time, with slow but progressive steps. These 
steps were first intinction. then suction, and last of all 
half-communion, 

Intinction, which consisted in dipping the bread 
into the wine before handing it to the communicant, is 
of an early date. The second step to the defalcation 
of the cup, suction, consisted of using a tube (generally 
of siver) which was annexed to the chalice, and through 
which its communicant sucked the wine or blood. The 
design of the sacred instrument was to prevent the 
spilling of the divine blood, or the intrusion of the 
beards of the mem. This act, practiced in this con- 
nection and manner, was ridiculous, and could tend 
only to burlesque the holy institution. The mumme- 



74 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

ries of the entire mass, in every age of its existence, 
has been a ludicrous tragedy. 

Could an Apostle, an ancient Father, or primitive 
xjhristian, lift his head from the grave and behold, 
such a spectacle of folly and corruption, he would be 
wholly at loss to unriddle its meaning, or, if informed 
of its nature and design, be filled with indignation at 
such presumption on the part of the church. I am 
pretty sure, if St. Paul could return to the earth, and 
see and hear the usages and doctrines of the Catho- 
lic Church, he would exclaim, withri^-hteous contempt : 
/^ I never taught you such a religion, such a faith. 
Brethren, pray for us, that we may be delivered from 
unreasonable and wicked men:" The reasons which 
the church enumerates for her justification of having 
abandoned the cup of wine in the adminstration of the 
holy Communion to the laity, are better fitted to pro- 
voke laughter, than to produce conviction, viz : the 
expense of wine sufiicient for such multitudes of 
people as often commune. The fear of contamination ; 
its liability to sour and become vinegar, and in doing 
so, occasion Idolatry ; its tendency to putrefy and 
produce flies and worms, the disgust arising from so 
many drinking out of the same cup ; the danger of 
spilling it at the altar, or in carrying it over rocks, 
woods, mountains and valleys to the sick. All these 
and many more are assigned for the retrenchment of 
the cup in the sacrament in the Catholic Church. 
One of the true and principal reasons, however, that 
might be assigned for '^ Half-Communion," is this : 
that the priests by abandoning the administration of 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 75» 

wine to the laity, would be able to decrease the ex-^ 
penses of the church, and increase the quality and 
quantity of his own sacramental cup every morning. 
In 1862, an aged priest, residing in Auglaize Countj^^ 
Ohio, on being asked how much wine he used at the 
altar every month, replied : " That he could not tell, 
but he consumed almost half a bottle every morning," 
adding, " That he was longing for a good measure of 
wine at seven o'clock in the morning, and could do it 
sooner without breakfast, than without mass/' The 
servants of the Catholic altars are in the habit of 
taking the best part for themselves. 

But Rome, with all her dogmatical, superstitious 
and moral defects, in regard to the Eucharist and mass, 
disagreeable contentions, and her daily increasing 
weakness in European countries, is gaining ground in 
this beloved land of America, by imigration, and is 
still a great power, well able to erect her altars every- 
where over the United States, before the present era 
will have passed away. " Awake ! Awake ! thou that 

sleepest." 

Well, she may in America grow, 

Even, our Republic soon o'erthrow, 

Altars, Mass and priests may then dictate, 

History one day will tell her fate : 

Rome fell ; there she lies, her sins, her Popes. 

Silent ; void of vigor, Power, Hopes. — 

In concluding this chapter, I thank my readers for 
their patience and attention which they may have 
been pleased to devote to this important topic, and 
trust that it may be of service to my protestant friends. 



76 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

in guarding the foe, and also to my Catholic friends in 
opening their eyes to see the true position which they 
occupy, and help them to turn to serving God in the 
true spirit of holiness. 

Yet I am fully aware, that there are many who will 
be like the Monk, who had been to Pittsburgh during 
a time when the small-pox was prevailing to some ex- 
tent, and on being asked, if it was still bad in the city, 
answerd: " T/ia^pestilence is not increasing, but ''that 
she-devil,' (meaning Miss Goreman, an ex-nun, who 
was lecturing in the city on ' Romanism and Convent 
life.') was worse than all the small-pox on* the Ameri- 
can continent," and thank the writer, too, that he is 
finally through with his discussion on Mass, and 
Eucharist, and without any great effort or reserve of 
indignation be able to convert the feminine " She," 
into the masculine " He." 



CHAPTER VII. 

MY PRIESTHOOD IN AVILLA CONTINUED. ITS HISTORI- 
CAL VIEW. — READING OF LUTHER'S BIOGRAPHY, ETC. 

IN Avilla I spent a very pleasant life, notwithstand- 
ing my doubts in the " Real Presence.'^ As there 
is hardly a rule without exception, so there is seldom 
^ society of men without spot. Yet my recollections 
of Avilla are, that there I found a truly christian 
people, to Avhom I, even at this late day, extend 
my sincere thanks for their many tokens of friend- 
ship and kindness while with them. The field of 
iny labors there is still fresh in my memory, and it 
gives me joy to say here, that I spent the happiest 
days of my priesthood with its people. It is there 
where the first traces of my mission work stand, the 
marks of zeal, and I trust usefulness. It is a small 
place. You will not find hotels, as would be expected 
in Boston, or great palaces of commerce, like those 
in New York ; nor grand homes with marble fronts, 
as in any of our cities, but you find a place of rural 
i)eauties, comfortable homes, plenty to eat, sufficient 
to drink, happy, generous hearts, noble souls, a people, 
to the very best of their knowledge, preparing for 
heaven. 



78 SIX YEARS A PRIEST 



At the close of my first year's labor there, I re- 
ceived from Bishop Luers, of Ft. Wayne, a letter in 
which are found these Avords of encouragement. " I 
am glad, (exceedingly so), that you are succeeding so 
well in Avilla ; every one is satisfied with you. I 
hope you may be of great usefulness in my new 
diocese. I understand you are not well ; spare your- 
self as much as possible. My fear is, that you may 
work too hard. Continue visiting, regularly, your 
mission, but quit giving instructions to the children. 
No man can serve two masters at once ; you cannot 
teach and attend to your appointments at the same 



time." 



''Be kind enough to write an article for the 
' Wahrheitsfreundy in Cincinnati, next week, stating 
some particulars about your missions in Ligoinier, 
Waterloo, other points, describing the quality of the 
soil, etc, in these vicinities.'' 

Though it is from no desire to boast of my suc« 
cess during the first year of my priesthood, neverthe- 
less I consider it to be the duty of a narrator to state 
things as they occur. Knowing, also, too well, how 
Catholics are inclined to culminate even the purest of 
priests after their withdrawal from the church. I shall 
reveal extracts of the many letters from priests and 
bishops which are still in my possession, whenever I 
deem it proper, without betraying any secrets of my 
former friends and associates. 

Luther, the great Reformer, one day was honored 
and highly esteemed among the Order of Augustinian 
Eremites, for his earnest zeal, great ability and piety, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 791 

but no sooner had he commenced speaking and writing 
against the abuses in his church, and complaining of 
the Pope's severe treatment and papal bulls, than he 
was decried as a monster, persecuted, tormented, and 
sent to hell by the weapons of papal curses, and 
although he was governed in his reformation, by 
christian principles, by sufficiently justifiable reasons^ 
guided by moral persuasions, and pursued, also, a 
legal course, in his ever laudable undertaking of puri- 
fying Catholicism from its putrifactions and chronic 
diseases. He was opposed, hated, and hurled, though 
alive, to the regions of the infernal abyss. And Rome 
would, if she could, keep him there forever, and also 
hush in everlasting silence the mighty pen of protest- 
ant power, carried on for the same purpose in Science, 
Literature, Philosophy, Theology and History, I am 
not prepared to say what this church might not advise 
and instigate, but I dare safely say, that no restric- 
tions in papal curses and anathemas would be spared 
to chain the '' whole abominable Reformation" to Luci- 
fer's anvil, there to sufi'er with a Tantalean thirst and 
hunger, till the day of judgement and longer, if Christ 
did not at that day, supersede his Highness as judge. 
There is no less persecution, hatred, calumny and 
slander, measured out to every priest who separates 
himself from the papacy of '' Roman Infallibility,'' 
now than three hundred years ago. Strange as it may 
seem, yet it is true that I, as a Roman Catholic, strictly 
brought up in the ultramontane-doctrine of that church 
from childhood, was inclined either by nature or by 
supernatural power, to scrutinize protestant literature* 



80 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Ah ! how I loved to read Luther's Biography of 
his early education, boyhood and college years ; of his 
Novitiate in the Convent ; his consecration to the 
priesthood ; then his manly strife against indulgencies, 
and other wrongs, which gradually become perpetrated 
into the church. His life in Wittenberg, his incarcer- 
ation at Wartburg; and particularly of the various 
annoyances which he experienced in the publication 
of his " Theses,'' and which he bore with such manly 
endurance. The many combats in which he engaged 
with his deceitful foes. Ah, verily, I thought, he was 
the smartest man that ever lived. The most honest 
and heroic warrior that ever fought upon the religious 
battle-field. I could not help but admire his courage, 
meditate on the ability of his mind, and love the purity 
of his motives. I studied that great character and 
saw how the great Reformer, appearing in all the ap- 
parel of his mind and heart, profoundly sincere and 
honest, entirely religious and conscientious, though 
still held in bondage to many errors and superstitions, 
yet more and more deeply convinced of the justice 
and importance of his biblical views of theology, and 
of the corruptions of the church, of the stupid and 
ignorant condition the monastries and schools were in, 
was finally undeceived in regard to the position of 
Pope Leo, his Archbishops and bishops, and not less 
of the growing hatred, and horrid imprecations of his 
former intimate associates. I saw in my mind how 
he sighed over these evils ; sometimes reasoning with 
them in scholarly strength, in order to convince the 
wise and good. Sometimes when assailed by the vilest 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 81 

arts of malignant foes, either indignantly hurling at 
them his sharp arrows, accompanied with electrical 
flashes, or comically making them appear ridiculous in 
the superlative degree. 

During my OAvn collegiate life at Minster, Essen. 
Coesfeld, and Bonn, I met with many things which I 
was loath to accept as the truth, and only prompted 
me the more to indulge the inclination, my mind had 
to enquire into the reformed religion, and to sigh that 
in my day, my mother might •see, be convinced and 
turn from the error of her way. It seemed as if 
already early in life, I was graciously blessed with a 
foretaste of my later beautified Protestant faith, and 
many things during my life as a priest added to the 
desire of a purer, clearer, and more scriptural 
knowledge of my relation toward God and man. 

The dijBferent offices in the church, as confession, 
yisiting the sick, dying, and particularly the position 
of a mediator, in all cases of dispute in families, as 
well as neighborhood, gave me an excelent opportunity 
of learning much of human nature. 

Once, for instance, a youg lady of modest beauty 
scarcely had she begun to tell her sins, when she wept 
knelt at the confessional early in the morning and 
bitterly. I was much suprised, thinking also that I had 
not had so great a penitent, for a long time. But a 
few moments disclosed the fact, that she was not weep- 
ing for sins committed, but that her father had become 
a bankrupt, and her lover forsaken her, returning the 
betrothal mementoes in his possession, and asking that 
^he would do the same. She thought that this wa^^ 



a2 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

on account of the misfortune her father had sustained^ 
and asked me to use my influence in reclaiming her 
lost love. I told her that she should proceed with her 
confession, and relate the matter that so saddened her 
heart, outside the confessional, if she wished me to 
assist her, as a priest had no right to use the knowledge 
he gained alone in the Confessional for any purpose 
whatsoever. Afterwards, I learned that the man was 
then a 'Soldier in the U. S. Union Army and fighting 
against the disloyal South, was a professed christian, 
w^ell educated, and belonged to a generally respected 
family. I sympathized and pitied her, and believing^ 
that her love was pure; and that in his youthful hila- 
rity he lacked stability of character. I promised to in- 
terest myself in the case enough, to at least write to her 
truant lover, and state his duty to her, and the necessary 
sacredness of his promise, even if he thought that the 
change of her father's circumstances justified the; 
course he was then pursuing, and that the young lady 
no doubt felt the change more deeply than he could 
possibly do, under the fostering love of his heart, but to* 
withdraw that, and the fortune at the same time to go, 
was more than he should, as a christian or patriot,, 
ask. I wrote " Cease to drive the pointed nails of 
thoughtless indiscretion into the loving heart of your 
bride, quit to dig the cruel grave for one, you must in 
truth love." I received an answer soon, saying : " I 
will still be true ; I ask her pardon." How beautiful 
it is to see how God blesses the operation of his great 
moral law. '' He, whom God hath joined together, let 
no man put assunder," and we should oftener see it„ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 83 

ccvuld we look into the hidden paths of life and find 
that it is not self-interest, not riches, not fame, that 
Ibinds heart to heart. The simple power of a friendly- 
act can do far more than they. It is these, the friendly 
.acts, the neighborly kindness, the christian sympathy, 
forgiveness one to another, which robs wealth of its 
power, extracts the bitter from the cup of sorrow, and 
opens wells of gladness in desolate homes. But 
solemn promises are broken without scruple ; divorces 
granted whenever called for ; home blighted without 
consideration of future consequences, and unless these 
evils are remedied soon in our dear land, it will prove 
;a fatal injury to its social and religious prosperity. 

Alas ! American Fidelity, in all positions of life. 
IVTiere is it found ? It is banished in exile ; it is 
chained. Oh ! bond of pure fidelity, and indispensa- 
ble ionesty, when wilt thou return ? 



CHAPTER VIII. 

REMOVAL TO MISHAWAKA. 

Money begging husiness, — Pastorate at Goshen^ Elkhart 
County^ Indiana^ from 1861 to 1866. — Retreat of 'priests:^ 
missions^ why held. — Mission of Father Weniger^ at Goshen^ 
— Mission held by Father Smarius. — Miserable conduct of 
Priests, etc, 

ALMOST two years of my ministerial life had pass^ 
. ed away, when I was suddenly called to Ft. Wayne, 
by the Bishop. I left immediately on getting the notice, * 
and arrived the same evening at the bishop's residence. 
When, after receiving me kindly, he told me that he 
had thought of abandoning his former conclusions in 
my case, and had decided to make me pastor of Goshea 
instead of New Haven, adding : " He hoped I w^ould 
be pleased with the change, that the former was situa-^ 
ted in a fine section of the country, and my services 
were needed much more at that point than the other 
for the advancement of the Catholic Church." I was 
not so pleased as he expected, and asked him to carry 
out his first intention, for I would have much preferred 
going to New Haven. After some discussion on the 
subject I accepted the situation as the pastor of Goshen 
church. Although Goshen is the county-seat, and 
situated on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern: 



ONE DECADE A PR0TE3TAXT, 85 

Railroad, and a nice city of four to five thousand in- 
habitants, good society, and its many advantages very 
desirable, there were nevertheless circumstances con- 
nected with the Catholic Church, as a congregation, 
which were very objectionable. 

Among the seventy Catholic familes in the city and 
its vicinity, from eight to ten of them were habitual 
drunkards, who disturbed the silence of the nights 
with their howling, and rolling in the streets. I knew 
of these facts from having attended the church, (during 
the two years from Avilla), as substituted for Father 
Schaefer; and, at such times, had been repeatedly 
requested by the city authorities, to assist them ia 
remedying this great evil, which annoyed a peaceably 
disposed community. Now knowing this intemperate 
tendency, I was not exceedingly anxious to accept the 
situation. However, in obedience to my Bishop, I 
consented to go. Then he informed me that he wished 
me to first go to Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, to 
pastorate in the absence of the regular priest. Rev. 
Henry Koenig, who intended to be absent three months 
soliciting contributions for the completion of his new 
church, and besides this I would have three months to 
procure a parsonage in Goshen. 

During the winter of 1861, the old frame church at 
Mishawaka, had been totally destroyed by fire, and 
their pastor set to work to plan for the building of a 
new church immediately. He being a skillful architect 
himself, had drawn and submitted to his trustees, a, 
beautiful design for the contemplated church, propo- 
sing, if they adopted his design, that he w^ould procure 



S6 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

a large proportion of its cos*^^, when completed. They 
accepted his proposition, and commenced the building 
early in the spring. The summer having passed, I 
was ready to remove to Mishawaka, which I did imme- 
diately, after the annual retreat given at Notre Dame, 
South Bend, from August 14th to 21st. After which 
Father Koenig left for Ohio, where he intended to 
begin his money begging business, a thing often done 
in Catholic churches, and for which the people deserve 
much commendation, for their liberality toward poor 
or weak congregations. 

I went to the congregation at Mishawaka with a 
full heart, determined to fill, to the best of my ability, 
the place temporarily vacated by their priest. 

The ^*^ Retreat'^ at South Bend had been attended 
by nearly every priest in the Diocese. They are not 
-strictly commanded to do so, but are requested ur- 
gently when sickness or urgent duties do not forbid it, 
to be present. They are special seasons of prayer, 
meditatioUj confession, penitential and other religious 
exercises, for the purpose of reviving the spiritual 
condition of the clergy. " Retreats'' may be divided 
into four classes, viz : For priests, nuns, ecclesiastical 
brothers or monks, and laymen. They are holden 
during the latter part of summer, or the first of the 
autumn annually. They differ from " Missions." The 
latter are held every two, three, o'r more years, by 
Jesuits or Monks of another order, for the special 
l)enefit of lukewarm catholics, and to build up the 
people in the especial dogmas of the church, and to 
extend the Church among the American people by 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 87 

using every probable means to induce their attendance 
iipon the exercise during the time occupied, which is 
from one io four weeks. There are not less than two 
conventical priests in attendance on a mission, and any 
number of secular priests that the pastor may wish. 
Of the Conventical priests, one is a first-class orator ; 
the other a practical confessionary. 

The Orator's duty was, or is to present the princi- 
pal doctrines of the Catholic faith, ponder the errors of 
protestantism, cursing its abominable tendency to in- 
fidelity and immorality, demanding of his hearers to 
Jabstain from reading protestant literature, visiting 
their irreligious churches and infectious societies ; ex- 
plaining to parents the necessity of keeping their 
children from attending the public institutions of 
protestant America, which are considered by the 
Roman Catholic priests as powers destructive to chris- 
tian and moral civilization ; the dens of iniquity, a 
system dangerous to Catholicism. And as a loyal citi- 
zen, and knowing whereof I speak, I wish to call the 
attention of the public to the fact, that it is the inten- 
tion of the Roman priestcraft to do all in their power 
to destroy their greatest enemy to Catholic progress : 
the public school system^ and for no other purpose than 
on its ruin to erect catholic schools, and through their 
influence to at least display the banner of Popery, in 
Church and State, on this broad continent. Rev K., 
an aged and experienced minister in one of the Catho- 
lic churches in Covington, Ky., said, twelve years ago 
to a lawyer of that place, in my presence : "Sir, do 
j-ou know that we Roman Catholics are moving slowly. 



88 SIX YEARS A PRIEST 



but deliberately ? I have a parish school of two hun- 
dred and ninety children, and one hundred of them 
belong to protestant families, and in twenty years 
hence, '- he continued, addressing his protestant neigh- 
bor,^' '' we will have succeeded in upsetting the public 
school system. There is where our force lies ; there 
is the anchor of our hopes of ever proselyting you. 
Americans, to the Catholic faith ! " Down with prot- 
estant schools is the secret cry of Catholic missiona- 
ries in this country. The Confessionary in his secret 
closet, during the mission time, is to second the motions, 
of the pulpit orator, by bringing the subject to his or 
her mind, while in confession. For the confessional^ 
in mixed communities particularly, is one of the sacred- 
places, where the catholic is inspired from his child- 
hood with an indelible hatred to his protestant fellow- 
men, and there it is, that each penitent is bound by 
a confessional oath, that he will obey the church now 
and forever. And should the penitent not feel disposed 
to submit to these dictates of his confessor, he is dis-r 
missed without the remission of his sins — but by 
clerical threats, instead of soothing pardon. Here,> 
also, the confessor investigates the moral condition of 
his penitent, his relation to protestant faith, and- 
society ; here he forgives heinous sins, and covers, 
criminal deeds wuth the veil of oblivion. 

After the Retreat ended, I took up my abode at 
Mishawaka, and remained there, while Father Koenig 
fulfilled his promise to solicit money from other con- 
gregations to pay off the entire indebtedness on their 
ncAV church. He was gone between nine and ten. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 89 

weeks, collected about five thousand dollar«=' and 
returned to relieve the church both of its deb', and my 
pastorate. 

I then went to Goshen; it being the 21st of De- 
cember, 1861. I made my home Avith Mr. Z. and 
family ; had the church dedicated on the Sunday 
between Christmas and New-Years' day, 1862. The 
following March, rented a house of John Rose, and 
went to house-keeping. From this time I began to be 
more and more convinced that I had not heretofore 
been led into the secrets of the social life of a Catho- 
lic priest. What led to this conclusion will now be 
given, viz : In April, 1862, a Mission was given in 
Goshen Catholic Church, by Rev. Father Weniger, 
Jesuit, for the purpose of eliciting the interest of the 
community in behalf of the new church. This mission 
service was enjoyed by a number of the catholics in 
and about the city of Goshen, but not to the extent 
which was expected or desired, and it was concluded 
that another should be given within the year. These 
missions were the circumstances under which the veil 
was lifted from my eyes in regard to the private life 
of many of the clergy ; a thing I had not been able to 
correctly judge of in my secluded life in Avilla, nor in 
Mishawaka as a stranger. But now as a pastor of a 
church, in a place of size and influence, I was expect- 
ed to entertain my fellow-priests. During this first 
mission, fully twelve gallons of wine, thirty gallons of 
beer, and one gallon of rye whisky, were drank in 
my house by visitors, the lar^e majority of whom were 
priests. The conduct which would naturally follow 



^0 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

such free drinking, as this amount of liquor between 
eleven persons would indicate, can be easily imagined. 
The mission lasted one week, then closed. In October, 
the second followed, at which nine priests were present, 
w^ho consumed sixteen gallons of wine, sixty gallons 
of beer, and three gallons of rye whisky ; two boxes 
of cigars and two packs of cards were kept busily 
passing about whenever the time admitted, which was 
at any time out of church. One morning a story was 
told on a priest, who had quit playing cards about 
eleven o'clock and retired angrily, because he had not 
only lost a part of his money in playing, but had also been 
tl>e playing-ball of his partners at cards, that whole 
evening. The substance of the story is about this : 
When thoroughly disgusted with his party, one of the 
Hev. Fathers sought repose from the vexation of the 
game in going to bed. After some time the priest^ 
with whom he had been playing, determined on doing 
the same, and who about to enter the bed, was ad- 
dressed thus : " Sir, you stay where you are ; you 
leave my cards alone ; the trick is mine ; it belongs to 
me ; I played the ace of hearts, and you only the 
queen ; heart is trump, heart is trump ! I got five 
tricks, and I want you to leave them alone." However, 
all the talk did not keep the comrade from entering 
the bed and claiming his half of it. No sooner had he 
succeeded, than the other arose double-quick and began 
slapping his bed- fellow in the face right and left ; ex- 
claiming in a loud voice, '' The trick is mine ; ace of 
hearts is trump, ace of hearts is trump." The next 
morninoj a few li^ht marks beinor on the face of the 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 91 

defensive one, he narrated to Lis inquisitors^ now badlj 
he had been treated in the bed. At first but little 
credit was given to the story, that should have occur- 
red between two half-drunken card-players the previous 
night. For its narrator was called by some of his 
fellow-priests, .Eesop's brother, and by others a scholar 
of that ancient fabler. Therefore, we thought that he 
might have taken some lessons again, or borrowed a 
new wit from the department of that fabulous compo- 
ser. However, during the day our Bishop came to me, 
saying : "Sir, I am afraid that some of the priests in 
your house drink too much beer or wine, and I wish 
you would refuse it to them. Soon after evening 
church, they should go to bed. I hear them talking^ 
laughing and stamping above me till twelve and one 
o'clock. And last night I could not shut an eye before 
three on account of a constant noise. Two of them 
either broke their bedsteads all to pieces, or had a 
fight; it sounded like. It is too bad, that even priests 
cannot conduct themselves as they ought to. Tell me, 
do they play cards up stairs so late in the evening ? 
It is entirely v/rong ! and I must request of you to 
prevent such conduct. What would our people say, 
who are truly devout worshipers during this mission, 
in case they should hear of such boisterous conduct 
among their priests ? Just tell them that they have to 
quit their unpriestly conduct, or that the bishop will 
examine into the matter.'^ 

At dinner table our Superior ordered that every 
priest should retire at eleven o^clock, except the pastor 
of the congregation, as he perhaps might be excused 



92 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

from that rule on account of pastoral business, adding, 
^' It was entirely wrong to keep all awake in the house 
and even in the neighborhood, by such a tramping 
around and boisterous conduct." During that week, I 
was in a continual state of surprise at the manner of 
older priests, but not wishing to be a subject of derision 
io them, kept my thoughts to myself. Everything 
passed on as usual in the congregation, until the follow- 
ing spring of 1863, during Lent, when another party 
of three came to visit me for a few days. 

Now let my reader call to mind that " Lent is a fast- 
ing time," and of great penance in the Catholic Church, 
and he will be able to see the cause of extra scandal at 
this time. On each day of their stay, there were one 
or two of the leading members of the congregation at 
my house, and the time was spent in drinking beer and 
playing cards, either at the home of the pastor, or in a 
back room of I. G. saloon. One of those nights the 
time was spent in*my house, two or three men of the 
place bringing with them oysters, crackers, sardines, 
etc. These they wished cooked. I went to the kitchen 
to have the house-keeper prepare them, and ordered 
the dining-room prepared for the guests. These re- 
freshments, together with beer, lasted until twelve, 
p. M., from which hour, according to the strict com- 
mand of the church, every priest shall fast, who 
expects to say mass the following morning. Now, it 
is a very easy thing to see the condition in which the 
persons must have been at that hour of the night, and 
yet the priests each said mass the next morning. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 93 

j\nother item connected with tiiis occurred at the 
breakfast-table after mass. 

There were boarding at my table four scholars, and 
the teacher of the parochial school of the church, who 
had overheard much of the noise and confusion of the 
preceding night, and who, when they sat down to 
breakfast, ordered the house-keeper to please to niake 
her a piece of toast to eat with her coifee. At this, 
one priest. Father N., said: ''You forget that it is 
Lent, do you not? and that a cup of coflFee and a small 
slice of bread is the allowance for breakfast ? besides 
you are setting a very bad example before your young 
students, by not fasting." She replied : '' Sir, I would 
much prefer a slice of toast, or a hearty breakfast, to 
i5ach fasting as Avas kept last night." 

He was in a rage, that any one should dare to 
speak to him, a priest, in such a bold and daring man- 
ner, and left the table immediately. 

I, as the host, felt it my duty to settle the subject 
as pleasantly as possible. I went to the teacher, after 
an hour had passed, and asked her to apologize to the 
Rev. Father, but she would not ; and further said : 
^' That so far as scandal was concerned, that the con- 
<luct of such priests was causing more scandal in one 
hour, than the conduct of all the laity in the city, and 
that she had no more faith in them or their religion, 
than in that of any other set of drunkards. Contrast 
the life of Protestant ministers, with that of Catholic 
priests, and the evident difference in their spiritual 
condition will indicate, that the former are of a tem- 
perate habits, and men of God, the latter of an intem- 



94 SIX YEARS A PRIEST f 

perate life and servants of their belly." All these 
things added to the discontent already in my mind, 
and made my life a truly deplorable one. 

In office, a Roman Catholic priest, yet not at hearty 
believing one-half of the doctrines of the church, and 
in practice doing those things I did not wish to do. 

In June folloAving another load was laid upom my 
heart and conscience. A Pic-nic was given for the 
purpose of raising money for the current expenses of 
the church, which was behind in finances. This pic- 
nic was to have lasted two days. The amusements 
for the occasion were a greased pig to be caught while 
running, and held ; a greased pole to be climbed ; a 
mark to be shot at by persons blind-folded beforehand ; 
a race run in sacks by boys; several stands, where, 
beer and cakes were sold, etc., all of which was to be 
paid for, and in this way the money was to be raised. 
On Monday, the first day, they went to the church 
according to the order of an appointed committee, to 
commence the celebration of the pic-nic with " High 
Mass," when, before it was finished, the rain began to 
pour down in torrents, and continued the rest of the 
day, with short intermissions. As it is a usage in 
protestant churches to commence public celebrations 
and legislative sessions, with prayers, so it is custo- 
mary in the catholic, to begin parades, shooting- parties, 
pic-nics, dancing and weddings, with a " High Mass," 
after the solemnity of which, the congregation marches 
in a procession with its banners, dedicated to saints, 
music, bands, and choirs, to the place of amusements. 
Of course, in small congregations, where there is no 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 95 

choir and singing cannot be done, the priest says 
mass, and this divine service is simply called ^' Low 
Mass." Whether the priest sings his mass or reads it,, 
he takes after his performance a lively part in the 
celebration. At the Groshen pic-nic it was concluded 
to postpone until the next day, and then to go to the 
woods, and if thought advisible to continue over 
Wednesday. Therefore, after mass, the congregation 
was dismissed. The strangers, consisting of priests 
and a choir, in all numbering twenty-five persons, ac~ 
companied me home, took possion of my house, and a& 
the end will show, entertained themselves 

I had but reached the house when a telegram was 
handed me, in which I was called to Waterloo, a dis- 
tance of sixty miles, to attend a sick person. I left 
on the next train and did not return until the folio wino: 
evening. During my absence the entire clergy^ 
together with a number of the laity, ate, drank, and 
became so boisterous, as to have neighbors look out to 
see what the matter could be. On my coming home 
my house-keeper met me at the parlor-door, saying . 
'' Oh, Father, we are so glad that you are back ; we 
have been looking for you all the evening ; we were in 
such an agony ; all the priests are drunk." I was 
requested to open the door of the dining-room. There 
I found five or six of the priests, and one or two of 
them just as intoxicated as they could be. One was 
lying in a corner, and could not get up ; another one 
had fallen asleep, and did not notice me ; and there I 
found somewhat in the middle of the room the Presi- 
dent of my church trustees, in a rocking-chair, having 



93 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

on his lap, his baby priest, six feet high, and four 
around the breast, rocking, singing, and kissing it to 
sleep. Both tried to arise, but their limbs were too 
feeble to bear that heavy beer-barrel, their heads too 
confused to think, and their tongues too stiff to utter 
language. I advised my house-keeper to make very 
strong coffee, and coax each one of them to drink a 
€up of it without cream and sugar, as it was a good 
^remedy in case of intoxication. She followed my 
advice and had them sober again by ten o'clock, except 
one. He was still so crazy, that the others could do 
nothing Avith him, and to prevent his disturbing the 
whole neighborhood with yells, they concluded to com- 
pel him, by force, to keep quiet. But, alas, instead of 
quieting him down, they turned my house into a 
lunatic Asylum for fifteen minutes, when he tore open 
the door and ran to the depot, probably intending to 
go home on the next train. They came after him, 
opposing his going home. He, having found out in 
the mean time, that a freight train was about starting 
for his place, was determined to leave, and fought like 
a Turk for his freedom. In the melee he dashed his 
watch at some one's head, Avhich it missed, and strik- 
ing a pile of wood was shattered to pieces, the wheels 
of which were found on the rail-road track three days 
afterwards. At length, assisted by the conductor, he 
mastered, got into the cars, and went home in the 
middle of the night. The rest returned to the parson- 
age much sobered by their efforts, and found that one 
had a black eye, another a scratched face and torn 
clothes, and all the poorest possible representatives of 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 9,7 

the office they occupied. After having told me of 
their sad affair at the depot, they requested me to 
prevent the editors of the Press in our town from 
publishing it, and then dispersed for their beds quietly, 
but with hanging ears like tired mules. When morn- 
ing came, not one of the number was in condition to 
say mass. What w^as to be done ? The congregation 
"would collect for mass, knowing that some five or six 
priests had remained over night. Some one had to 
celebrate. I said mass at the usual hour, and many 
attended, hoping that they would meet the clerical 
visitors at the church, but were to go home disap- 
j^ointed. Two of the priests, the worst bruised, on 
my reporting that several members of my congrega- 
tion intended to call out them, left for their parishes 
^vithout having taken even breakfast, and the rest 
remained until evening, when they all left for their 
respective homes. Thus ended one of the most, if 
not the most disgraceful affair that I met wdth in my 
pastorate, and for which I shall ever through life be 
ashamed of having had a part in. 

A week or so afterwards, the Bishop inquired of 
me whether the report of the misconduct of priests at 
the Goshen picnic w^as true or false ; he desired, 
a,lso, to know the parties who had been engaged in the 
night-melee at the depot. In my response I admitted 
that it was true,"^ but declined giving him names and 
particulars, referring him to those whom he stated in 
his letter to have participated in the disturbance, and 
saying : '^ That I had been neither present at the 
^rove, nor at the depot, when it occurred, and therefore 



98 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

desired to be excused from sending in my reports 
relative to this disgraceful scene." I was excused, 
and the Bishop thought it best to let the matter die 
away. But Rev. C, who had caused the riot, subse- 
quently discontinued his connection with the Diocese 
of Ft. Wayne, thanked me for my kind favor toward 
him, applied for a position in one of the Catholic 
Diocese in Ohio, where he is celebrating to-day, to his 
Bishop, and one of the leading ministers of that 
Diocese. I trust he is a better man at present. I will 
right here say, that although I drank beer, and that to 
an extent which I now think would intoxicate me, yet 
I was never drunk, and even at that time deplored 
such a practice in others, yet had not the courage to 
stand out boldly for the right as I then saw it, and now 
I feel as if these scenes were the darkest pictures of 
my life. I then determined to seek a home in the 
protestant church, although it took me some time to 
put it into effect. It is not an easy matter for a Cath- 
olic to leave his Church, and for a priest it is almost a 
high Alp, covered with unsurmountable diiEculties, to 
say adieu forever, to the altar and office of his liveli- 
hood. In leaving, he separates from all, that are near 
and dear to him ; parents, sisters, brothers, relations, 
friends, associates, heirship, and inheritance, are for 
him no longer ; in the twinkling of an eye, love, honor, 
praise and esteem, unto death, changes to hate, dis- 
honor, malediction, and persecution into hell. There 
he stands a stranger, despised by Catholics, and 
suspected by Protestants. The circumspect priest sees 
all these obstacles before, and here lies the pit of diffi- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 99 

culties for him. Many, many of the Roman Clergy, 
no doubt, see the errors, superstitions and vices in 
their church, but they have no courage to encounter so 
numerous impediments. I wish we could give them 
a kind reception, provided, that they have Keen men of 
character during their priestly life. They come fath- 
erless, motherless, and even penniless. I have expe- 
perienced all these difficulties, and understood how to 
sympathize Avith Catholics, who are compelled by 
conscience and principles to abandon the putrid grave 
•of papal decomposition. 

A few weeks after this pic-nic, I went to the 
Bishop, telling him frankly all about my spiritual 
condition; how I struggled to believe in all the doc- 
trines of the church, and that all my struggles and all 
my prayers for grace seemed to be in vain. I told 
him, ^ that since the proclamation of the ' Immaculate 
Conception of the Virgin Mary,' it seemed to me I 
was undone.'^ He treated me very kindly, saying : 
^^ that Satan knew exactly how to do ; he attacked 
frequently even the purest and best priests, tempting 
them, to disbelieve the doctrines and be scandalized by 
the bad examples of others. I should not fear, not be 
discouraged, my disbelief was only imagination. I 
shold often pray to Mary and all the Saints, and the 
deviFs temptations would cease." I went home, ful- 
filled my pastoral duties, meditated and studied four 
years longer, fought and struggled without ceasing but 
to no avail. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MY PASTORATE IN GOSHEN CONTINUED. 

Disgust vjith relaxations in the Church — inordinate desire 
after money — one or two illustrations on this point — money 
even in prospect^ will cover a multitude of sins — the Bishop 
wishes me to go to Ohio^ to procure money for the church — 
If Catholics act their part ^ catholic religion soon will pre- 
dominate in the New World — Recommendation — Amount of 
collected money ^ etc. 

I STRUGGLED on, trying to fulfill my many pastoral 
duties to the satisfaction of myself and the Bishop, 
but it was up hill work, for, do what I would, there 
was ever and anon something arising to cause me dis- 
turbance of mind and soul, in the faith and practice of 
the church, I Avas vainly endeavoring to serve. Besides 
the doubts I had on doctrinal matters^ I was so utterly 
disgusted Avith the relaxation in said church, with 
regard to disciplinary rules, in cases where it was 
thought prudent or profitable to hold a closed moutk 
or ear. The church, as well as its individual priests,, 
has an inordinate desire for money and power, so that 
when a closed mouth or church services will procure 
either, they are willingly given. One or two cases, 
to illustrate this point will sufiice. 



OXE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 101 

1st. There lived near one of my missions a couple, 
"who had been married for three years. The marriage 
ceremony had been performed by a Justice of the 
Peace, because the church had questioned the right of 
marriage under existing circumstances, viz : The man 
had a living wife in an adjoining state ; this was not 
known to many, indeed to but few. All this had oc- 
curred in another congregation, and some distance 
from his then place of residence. They attended 
church, but wished to be admitted to the sacraments 
of confession and communion now, after the three 
years of estrangement from the church and its 
privileges. I wrote to the Bishop at Ft. Wayne, the 
particulars, and asked for advice in the matter. In a 

short time I received the answer, " That at was a 

Mission then in progress, and if the parties were will- 
ing to attend, and submit to the marriage being per- 
formed over again by the priest, it would be all right, 
and to keep it still and cause no scandal, as they were 
persons of influence and money. '^ 

This was done. Father W. performing the ceremony 
and admitting them to the full privileges of the church, 
although they were really the same in body and mind 
as three years before. In this case I saw how in- 
sincere the church discipline was when an opportunity 
of gain, and no loss occurred. The second, will show 
the same disposition, carried even to a greater extent. 

In another place lived a Mr , who had accumu- 
lated a handsome fortune in the business in which he 
was engaged, and being a very liberal man, though an 
irreligious one, I had been told by the Bishop often 



102 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

times during my pastorate at that place, to be partic- 
ularly kind and obliging to Mr. . These were the 

express words : " Favor and Flatter him in all things, 
and pay no attention to his drinking, and in no instance 
act contrary to his wishes." This advice will appear 
more pointed, when I add that he was a heavy and 
habitual drinker of the strongest intoxicating drinks, 
and had been on the eve of " Delirium Tremens" 
several times. At this date, March, 1865, he was 
drinking very much, and had come to me repeatedly 
within a few days to insist on my accepting a present 
of several thousand dollars. At length I told him 
'' that on the morrow I would call at his house, and if 
his wife was willing, would accept it, for the church. 
Ho then expressed a wish to go to Confession. We 
went to the church, and Confessional. After he had 
confessed, I told him he had better wait for communion 
until the next morning at mass, and if he wished could 
come again to Confession before mass." This I did 
because I did not think him sober enough to partake 
of the sacrament then. I went with him to his door, 
and asked the wife to keep him at home, if possible, 
until I should return, intending to do so in a very 
short time — I going to my own home, and before I 
had arranged myself to return, was called for by one 
of his servants, saying : '' Come quickly, Father ; F. 
lias hanged himself ! " Too true, too true, were these 
words. He had gone from the room with the seeming 
intention of lying down, and only a few moments had 
passed, when he was missed, and on search being made 
for him, was at length found hanging to a halter-strap 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 103 

from a beam in the barn. Friends cut him dovrn, and 
finding life was not extinct, every effort was made to 
resuscitate him. Alas ! after eighteen hours of an- 
guish, such as I never wish to behold again, he died, 
without having given any evidence of a preparation 
for a happy future. 

I returned home, thinking much on the sad end of 
a wicked and Godless life, and especially of this one, 
with whom I had had so recent and intimate conversa- 
tion, and under such painfully unpleasant circumstan- 
ces. Late in the evening the wife called to say, that 
the body could not be kept longer than the morrow, 
from the present appearance ; and was very anxious 
that I should sing '' High Mass," for the repose 9f his 
soul, while the body lay before the Altar. I sent her 
home, with the assurance that all that could be done, 
would be. This I did to ease the distressed woman, 
and give myself the opportunity of obtaining, in the 
meantime, advice from proper authority, what course 
to pursue in this case. I examined my books again, 
and found that no self- destroyed life was in a condi- 
tion to be benefited by Catholic burial rites, by prayers 
or mass ; also, that the body of a suicide should not* 
Idc admitted into the church, or receive burial in con- 
secrated ground, and that priests, who transgressed 
such rules, should be held responsible for their func- 
tions, and sufi*er severe punishment for the violation of 
these rules, either by suspension or excommunication 
from the church. I had no evidence that he had died 
consciously, and felt the critical condition of my situ- 
ation. On one hand compassion and sympathy urged 



104 SnY YEARS A PRIEST; 

me to act ; on the other, conscience and the practice 
of the church demanded of me to abstain from action. 
I knew that the bishop was absent from home, and sent 
therefore, a messenger with a note to the Superior of a- 
Convent, stating all the particulars connected with the 
case of the deceased ; his life, death, and liberality to; 
the church, and that his wife promised the last wishes 
of her husband should be executed. I received the 
answer, that he, without any hesitation, advised me to 
bury him ; but should also secure the promised money, 
I buried him according to the rites of the church, 
saying mass over his body, and for the repose of his 
soul. 

In a week or two, I received a long letter from Ft. ^ 
Wayne, assuring me that I fulfilled my duty perfectly 
well in the case of F., and telling me just how to act 
in regard to getting of a portion of the estate. The 
best part of this story is, that the wife and adminis- 
trator of the deceased determined, after the burial rites 
had been performed in the church, to keep money, 
land, and all, there being no will to the contrary, and 
she being not so generously disposed as her husband. 
♦I received many reprimands for my neglect of duty to 
the church, in not procuring it the money. The next 
fall, when it was found, that a small donation of the 
eight thousand dollars, which were solemnly promised 
for the Catholic Church in Goshen, was refused, I 
was severely censured ; that I had not furnished an 
accurate statement of the sad occurrence, and buried 
the corpse from the altar of the church, when it should 
have been carried awaj^ directly to the grave, from its 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 105- 

late residence. This case showed me that in the Cath- 
olic Church, money, even in prospect, would cover a^ 
multitude of sins ; that the most solemn promises^ 
when a few dollars may be gained, are dishonestly 
broken; and at last, what sad results proceed from 
intemperance. Oh Lord, grant that this poor victim 
of intemperance, when I pressed my right hand upon 
his dying pulse, and wdped w^th my left, the clammy 
sweat of his mortal agony away, invoking divine 
mercy upon the sins of his immortal soul, may have 
been conscious, and turned trustingly his dying face 
unto his Redeemer, like that penitent sinner upon the 
cross on Mount Calvary, and heard the pardoning, 
w^ords : " To-day thou wilt be with me in the paradise !" 
In the spring of 1863, the bishop wrote me, '' that 
he wished I would go to Ohio, to solicit some contribu- 
tions for the new churches in Goshen and Ligonier, to 
meet the debts of these congregations, improve the 
parochial school, and use some of it for my personal 
wants, if necessary, saying, that I was his greatest 
orphan child in the diocese, and I should try to assist 
him, he had at present no money to help me along; 
he knew that the people in his new diocese were neither 
able nor willing, to bear the heavy expenses put upon 
them ; we would have to depend for some time upon 
the charity of rich catholic communities at large." 
In a few years, our people having increased in numbers 
and prosperity, would be able to give largely, but as for 
the present, it would be impossible to obtain all the 
means which would be necessary for erecting churches, 
school-houses, and pastoral residences, although he^ 



106 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

knew it was not very pleasant to beg from place to 
place, nevertheless, he besought me to prepare for a 
visit to Cincinnati, as every little by little would help ; 
(he had written to Rev. Koenig, in Mishawaka,, to 
attend my parish and mission, during the time of my 
absence ;) Catholic was our term, and catholic should 
be our aim, in the New World, and by acting our part, 
we would overcome all obstacles ; our labors would be 
crowned with success, our indefatigable exertions 
would secure victory after victory, and we might live 
to see the Catholic religion predominate in America." 
The bishop's letter was accompanied by this authori- 
zation. "- The Rev. F. W. , has hereby my full 

permission to solicit contributions for his church 
:at Goshen, Indiana, wherever he can. This congrega- 
tion is as yet small, poor, and consequently in debt ; 
.any gift or aid, therefore, will be well applied." 

JOHN HENRY LUERS, 

Bishop of Ft. Wayne. 
Ft. Wayne, May 1, 1863. 

I started for Cincinnati, visited arch-bishop Pur- 
•cell, who received me very kindly, and gave me the 

following permission : " Rev. Mr. is authorized to 

beg, at his own request, among certain of his friends 
in the city, for the same object. J. B., 

Cincinnati, May 16, 1863. Abp., Cincinnati." 

Many of my friends gave contributions, on condi- 
tion that I should use the money, either for the benefit 
of the church, or school, or myself, accordingly as I , 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. \01 

would need it, saying : " that they gladly assisted their 
missionaries in new dioceses, because they had to labor 
hard.'^ It was very hot that summer, and I came 
near losing my life in Cincinnati. 

Next spring, bishop Luers insisted upon my again 
soliciting means, but I refused, writing him that I was 
not well enough to undertake it. However, I conclu- 
ded afterwards to go, being compelled by necessity, as 
the creditors of "the new building Avould Avait no longer. 
The bishop, having left for Rome, had forgotten to 
leave money at home, according to our mutual under- 
standing weeks before. I asked his administrator for 
an authorization to collect in Covington, Ky., among 
my German friends. He handed me this: "Rev. 

William , pastor of Goshen, Elkhart County, Ind.^ 

is a priest of the diocese of Ft. Wayne, commendable 
for his earnest piety and great zeal. His congrega- 
tion is small, he has built, however, a brick church, and 
is erecting a pastoral residence. He cannot find the 
necessary means at home, and he is bound to appeal to 
the benevolent and charitable people of other congre- 
tions. He has the full permission of his bishop, and I 
hope he will be received everywhere as a priest in good 
standing, and as worthy of all confidence. 

J. B.-V. G. and Administrator, 
Ft. Wayne, June 5, 1864.'^ 

On my return. Rev. B.-V. G. made me a present of 
a hundred dollars, adding : " Sir, you work hard and 
need it ; our priests must live, and particularly in 
towns and cites, where there are small congregations ; 



108 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

they need aid, because there they have to obtain every 
thing from the stores. Here, I make you a present of 
this, use it as you need. I suppose you need some 
coffee ; Germans like coffee ; take care of your health, 
do not work too hard, for young priests sometimes 
overdo matters, ect." Rev. B. had always been a 
true friend to me. The Lord bless him in his old age. 
I was gone from time to time on business, four 
months, and collected about twenty-nine hundred dollars 
($2,900). The church, taking the lots, building and 
inside finish of altars, etc., had cost $6,000, $1,000 
of which the Goshenites had paid ; the other, with 
interest, still standing. About twenty-seven hundred 
of the collected money was paid on the old debts ; the 
remainder I used to defray travelling and my own 
house expenses, which I had a right to do from a per- 
mission given by bishop Luers, which I still possess 
in his own handwriting. The interest of the church 
lad not been the uppermost thought in my mind 
for some four months, and with the determination 
of leaving it, I was not as zealous as I had been 
in the cause for six years ; however, I did not take 
the final step until January, 1866. I w^ent to the 
bishop, telling him my determination. When, lo ! I 
was so overcome and persuaded by him and other 
clerical friends, to go to the convent, at least, for a time 
and see if I was not suffering from an aberration of the 
mind, in regard to the subject of religion. I went, 
but did not stay longer than two weeks, and came out 
more fully determined to leave, which I did the 4th of 
July, 1866, Bishop Luers sent for me to come to Ft. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 1C9 

Wayne, after my retreat in the Convent at Chicago, 
handing to me the following letter of recommendation, 
and remarking : '' What a pity it was, that I had taken 
it into my head that I could not believe the doctrines 
in which my good and pious parents, brothers, sisters, 
and all relations fully trusted; during the summer I 
should go to Europe, meet with them, and he hoped I 
would recover from my mental consumption, and in 
saying this, he handed me the following note : 

''1. M. I. A. S.,. Chicago, Feb. , 1866. 

Right Rev. Bishop : The Rev. Father has gone 

through the exercises of his retreat, to my edification, 
and to his greatest advantage. It would be desirable 
that all priests in America Avould have such a sincere 
and pious disposition as he manifested. As far as I 
am able to judge, your Episcopal Reverence may most 
confidently entrust to him the position of a pastor; 

for Rev. loves to pray, and that Avill enable him to 

execute the duties of his office justly and conscien- 
tiously. 

Accept, Right Rev. Bishop, of this humble petition, 
your submissive servant, 

GEA. FIMMER, C. S. S. R." ' 

I left Fort Wayne March 27, for Leo, Allen Co., 
Indiana, where I was pastor of the Catholic Congre- 
gation until July 4th, 1866, when I abandoned the 
church forever, having previously informed the bishop 
of my intention. I received from him this letter: 
'^' To your congregation you say, that you will leave 



110 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

without having obtained my permission. I consider it 
to be characterless. Verily, I am tired of this hum- 
bug. What you deserve is suspension, and unless you 
are prudent, you will obtain it, too. Since when, has 
order ceased in our ecclesiastical Hierarchy ? Is Rev. 
Oechtering your bishop, or have you established an 
episcopal government of your own ?" 

I responded to him laconically . " Neither do I 
fear Episcopal Threats, nor Papal Bulls. '^ 

I left the Church of Rome. During my priestly 
administration at Goshen, and its nine missions, the 
members had increased, from 1860 to 1866, from six 
hundred to eight hundred and fifty ; the parish school, 
from eighteen to one hundred and twenty-five scholars, 
fifty of which Av ere children of protestant parents, and I 
baptised seventeen adults and children, whose parents 
were members of the protestant church. As, in regard 
to the Church* in Goshen, I desire to say that Rev. 
Oechtering, my successor in that congregation, wrote 
me in February, 1866, that he wished to see me, in 
order to arrange matters to his, and my satisfaction; 
he found that about nine hundred dollars of debts were 
pending on the church, three hundred dollars of which 
.were coming to Mr. Lyman, three hundred and thirty 
dollars to Mr. Jacob Rink, of Millersburg, and the 
remainder to different parties, and that he could not 
collect the five hundred and fifty-six dollars, which I 
still claimed from the congregation, I should therefore 
arrange matters' personally. Rev. Oechtering forgot 
to include the six hundred dollars, which I had obtained 
from Mr. John Scheve, in Cincinnati, on my individual 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. Ill 

security, and which sum had been obtained for the 
Catholic Church in Goshen, and used for its benefit. 
My successor at Leo wrote me, in a letter dated April 
7, 1869, that he would not desire to exchange his 
place, with any in the diocese, because he met there 
with a kind people, that understood their duty, both in 
spiritual and financial respects, and Avas requested by 
Messrs. Miller, Mager, and Nettelhorst, the leading 
members of the congregation, to present their highest 
regards to their former pastor. The Lord bless the 
congregation of Leo ; the good people have given me 
many tokens of friendship, not only as their former 
pastor, but even now in my protestant faith. 

With about a hundred dollars in money, a change 
of clothes, and some books, I left Leo, July 4th, 1866, 
and went to Quincy, Illinois, w^here I had two friends, 
the son and daughter of a methodist minister, who had 
been a sister and brother to me the last four years, 
and to whom I owed much of the knowledge I gained 
of the private course of protestant minister's lives. 
On reaching Quincy, I found my friends surprised to 
see me, as if from the dead, I had appeared, because 
I had so lonor talked about leavino!; the Catholic 
church, that they had given up all hope of my ever 
having courage to do so. I sought employment and 
engaged with a life insurance company. I was mar- 
ried to the daughter of my old friend, who had been in 
Quincy for some time teaching in the city, Mrs. 
Ruth M. Sampson, and the last chain of popery fell 
from me by this act. I thought all possible communi- 
cation between me and the church was at an end, but 



112 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

not SO. I was beset on all sides, not only by men, but 
by women. Sisters, and nuns from the convent, visi- 
ted me, asking me to return to the church, and when 
they found that I would not encourage their personal 
visits, they wrote letters of great length and intended 
strength, offering to take my Avife into the convent and 
care well for her through life, if I would only return 
to the church, (some of which will be found in the Ap- 
pendix of this book). I will here insert one written 
the following March, after I had joined the M. E. 
Church, and was Professor of the French and German 
languages, in the Quincy College, under the Presi- 
dency of dear brother Andrus, D. D. 

" Quincy, Illinois, March 17, 1867. 

Rev, Father Wood : We all. Rev. Father, have not 
forgotten the kindness and love, which several years 
ago, you showed to our sisters who were collecting 
alms in your parish. Oh, how plainly do we remem- 
ber it yet, and especially the words of your sermon, 
w^hich you. Rev. Father, delivered standing before the 
holy sacrament of the altar in our church, namely : 'Hu- 
mility and Penance' were the two keys to open the 
gates of heaven.' These plain and simple words con- 
firmed, by an instructive life, had powerfully affected 
the poor proteges of the convent, and the sisters also 
took them in consideration. Yes, not many days pass 
by, in which these words have not echoed in my ear. 
^ Humility and Penance, are the two keys that open 
the gates of heaven. ' Humility and Penance' will 
bring you back, poor and dear sheep to the fold, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 113 

although, you have wandered far away from us. ' Hu- 
taility and Penance,' where canst ,thou be found ? — is 
it with humility as Avith German fidelity ? Then you 
delivered a sermon at the St. Joseph's Church, Cincin- 
nati, afterward, on the occasion of a young priest 
celebrating the first holy sacrifice to God, in which you 
said, when speaking of the dignity and obligation of 
a priest : '' He is elected by God, he Avill be distin- 
guished in heaven, if faithful to God ; but on the other 
hand he will be distinguished in hell, if not faithful. 
Oh, horrible truth ! Trembling with fear he is able to 
speak the words of consecration, which commands his 
Creator to descend from heaven, it is written : *• Thou 
hast made him a little lower than the angels,' but in this 
sacred priesthood man stands above God; but how 
would it be now with the poor priest, who spoke to 
others and has fallen away himself, not by wickedness, 
Ibut by want of watchfulness, resolution and constancy, 
when he has preferred the creature to its creator; 
when he at last has denied his best mother, the holy 
Catholic church, and in denying her, separated himself 
from God ; when he, who has preached so often the 
gospel, distributed the bread of life to so many, and 
who has brought to the dying, our Lord to accompany 
them through their journey into eternity. Oh, terri- 
ble thought ! when he should be lost and ruined 
eternally; when his own words and deeds shall be his 
judge ; when he, lying on his death-bed shall die of 
hunger, for Jesus will not appear to him, to strengthen, 
console and give peace to his breaking heart ; when 
the intercession of a mediatrix is absent, and the poor 



114 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

priest is surrounded by Pharisees, who will cry to him 
as to a Judas : " See thou to it/' exclaims : " Oh, if 
he had never been born !" Then, the second moment 
of horrible terror, at the appearance of the judge ! 
I am he, I am he, whom you have consecrated so often 
in mortal sins, so often received unworthily ! " Depart 
from me into everlasting fire !" My sanctuary was 
thine, but hence my mother is no longer thy mother, and 
my sanctuary has nothing to do with thee in the future* 
Everlasting despair is thy portion; oh, horrible, oh, hor- 
rible truth ; there is an eternity, there is a hell ! But is 
there no salvation offered for you yet? Is it impossible 
for you to yet be saved ? Must you now despair ? No ; 
or are you cancluding to live on and continue in your 
sin, until death will come and cut you oif ? until the night 
will come and you can no longer do penance ? No, 
oh, No ! " Humility and Penance" are the keys which 
will open to you the gates of heaven. " Humility and 
Penance" will bestow upon you again. Dear and 
Rev. Father, the place is your mother's heart. It is 
impossible that a kind and good heart will despair 
forever ; the things once acknowledged, which it has 
once understood as perfectly noble and good. And 
why should you exclude yourself from the community 
that has procured thousands of Martyrs ? Oh make 
good use of your short life in doing penance and serv- 
ing the Lord on his altar. Do not put it off, do not 
put off your penance, return ! although the chains are 
strong, which the world has thrown around you,, 
return ! and do not postpone this necessary penance ! 
I know, humility, penance, and frequent and faithful 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 115 

prayer will save you. Above all, reverence Mary, 
pray to her, she is the refuge of sinners ; fly to her ! 
Rev. Father, if we should be so happy as to be able to 
assist you in any Avay, we will be so willing to do so ; 
every convent in our community, with pleasure, will 
open its doors to assist you by caring for your spiritual 
welfare; and I assure you that the Rev. Clergy here 
at Quincy will gladly open the way for your return to 
the church, which you have forsaken, and in reconcil- 
ing you with the community of priests, that you have 
^iven up, as soon as you will make the first step 
toward a reconciliation. If you prefer to receive 
advice in our house, you will be thrice welcome any 
time, and we gladly receive you. The best hours to find 
us ready for a reception and long conversation, is from 
twelve to three p. m. You did not think it beneath 
your dignity three years ago to visit the order of the 
Sisters of St. Francis, that you might teach for them, 
to enable them to solicit contributions in your congre- 
gation for their convent ; now, therefore, may we not 
liope that we will have the pleasure of seeing you once 
iere ? You never shall regret it. Our community is 
praying for you every day, that the mother of Grod 
may take you into her motherly protection. 

Receive the most honorable salutation from us, 
your unworthy servant in Christ, E. 

Of the Order of St. Francis." 

Lord, thou art our common Father, who art dwelling 
in the circles of the heavens, and in the depths of the 
ivaters ; thou art the founder of the christian religion, 



116 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

through Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the world ; thou 
art the way, the truth and the life ; thou art our light 
and our guide, during our mortal career ; thou art God 
alone. Oh, help us, that we may see thy sacred Bible 
truths, which thou hast revealed to the human race, 
that we may walk in the light, whilst it is day, and do 
thy holy will without ceasing. Banish from our minds 
the blasphemy, that Angels and Saints can hear our 
prayers, the erroneous idea, that they are omnipresent 
like God; strengthen us that we may ever trust in 
Saints, but in God and Christ alone ; beware that we 
should ever return to the temple of images, which are 
like the heathen gods, that '' have eyes and see not,. 
and ears that hear not." Thou art God alone, and 
there are no other Gods, neither in heaven nor upon 
earth. Oh, Lord, bless this dear sister, and all her 
fellow-sisters, that the scales of superstition may fall 
from their eyes, and seeing may arise and follow thee,, 
like Saul, of Tarsus, when he was converted on the 
way- side, into an ever faithful and never wavering Apos- 
tle of Jesus Christ, the Institutor of true Christianity. 
Lord, we thank thee, that we have sincere christian 
friends; help us that our love to God, and one to another 
may increase daily ; that we continue to pray unto thee 
frequently, and fervently embrace the celestial peace 
of understanding here bcloAV, and unite all in a peace- 
ful joy and glory hereafter, in the land of bliss and 
truth, where we shall see Thee no longer in a riddle^ 
but face to face.. Amen. 

In August, 1866, the German Conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, met at Quincy. I had 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 117 

made the acquaintance of several persons in that 
church, as my wife and family belonged to it, and some 
of the persons requested me to attend the Conference, 
and make the acquaintance of its members, as far as 
possible, and especially that of its presiding officer, 
Bishop M. Simpson. I did so, and found in him a 
true christian friend, who took pleasure in assisting me 
in my efforts to start in life as an educator. This he 
did, by giving me the opportunity of applying for a 
situation in Quincy College, as Professor of the 
Modern Languages, after having examined my qualifi- 
cation for such a position. To his great kindness in 
thus opening my way to self-support and usefulness, 
I shall ever attribute, under God, my steadfastness in 
the most trying and severe time I had then experi- 
enced. The Bishop was then reorganizing the Quincy 
College, which had been abandoned as a school during 
the civil war, and converted into a hospital. 

I began my connection with said College, Septem- 
ber 3d, 1866, and continued it for two years. After 
the first year had passed, I was offered a situation in 
the Commercial College and High School, which the 
trustees of Quincy College were willing I should accept, 
if I could arrange the classes, so as to divide the day 
between the two Institutions. This was done. 

At the close of the second year, an opportunity 
offered whereby I could obtain the situation as Pro- 
fessor of German, in the Public High School — in this 
way, God opened my way to usefulness and means 
necessary to support my family. I retained my posi- 
tions in Quincy until the fall of 1869, when, through 



118 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

the eflforts made by my kind friendsj Bishop Simpson, 
Rev. W. J. Rutlege, Ex-Govenor Wood, of Illinois, 
Dr. Eddy, and others, I was elected to the chair of 
Ancient and Modern Languages, in the Western Vir- 
ginia State University, at Morgantown, Western Va. 
I filled the above chair for two years. At the annual 
meeting of the Board of Regents, in June, 1871, the 
Chair was divided, and to me given the choice of the new 
chairs. I chose the Modern Languages' Professorship, 
and remained in it four years, making six in all, at 
this Institution, Avhich brought me to the fall of 1875. 
The annual commencement exercises in June passed 
oif very pleasantly, so far as known to the majority of 
the Professors ; but at a called meeting in August 
following, the Regents passed the following resolutions: 

Resolved, That the West Virginia State University 
demands the annual election of Professors and Tutors 
in that Institution ; and further 

Resolved, That the Board now proceed to the elec- 
tion of Tutors and members of the Faculty." (The 
Chair of Ancient Languages, Chair of Agriculture, 
Chemistry, and Natural History ; Chair of Mathe- 
matics and Military Science ; the Vice President's 
Chair, and Professor of Mental and Moral Science, 
together with two Tutors, were filled, four of the six, 
with men who had been in the Southern army). 

5th. Resolved, That the Secretary advertise in the 
New-York Herald, Baltimore Gazette, Cincinnati 
Commercial, Richmond Dispatch, and Louisville 
Courier-Journal, for applications for positions in the 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 119 

Faculty of the West Virginia State University, to be 
filled September 9, 1875, viz : Professor of Astrono- 
my and Physics, (executive chair). Modern Languages, 
History and Political Economy, and Belles Lettres ; 
Normal Instruction, and Principal of Preparatory 
Department. 

When this action of the Regents was made known 
to the public, the indignation was out-spoken, and in 
plain language, and the question was asked through 
the Press : "Was it the intention of the Regents to 
make the Institution strictly " Southern." ^ The 
Parkersburgh State Journal, in an editorial, said : 
" The Bourbon State Ring and Regents have made a 
clean sweep in the University appointments, so far as 
the M. E. Chuch is concerned. There is not left a 
single Methodist in the Board of Regents or Faculty 
of the Institution. Such a condition of thino;s min;ht 
have occurred without design. But since the advent 
of Bourbonism in the State, there has been a deep 
and determined purpose, by fair means or foul, to 
eradicate every particle of this element from our Edu- 
cational institutions. Of all the agencies exerted to 
turn back the desolating tide of anarchy and rebellion, 
none was so formidable as the Methodist sect. It was 
the pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, that 
guided our people safely through the Red Sea of 
Secession and civil war, and anchored West Virginia 
safely and forever in the Union. 

The result of this unjust and sudden movement 
ivas, that theProfesso's, who had invested their salary 
in real estate, suffered heavy losses in the disposal of 



120 >S'/.r YEARS A PRIEST 



property, times being hard, and the prosperous condi- 
tion of the University impeded at once by an imprudent 
act, and lack of experience of the present Regency in 
power. But so it is in human life. Storms arise in 
the twinkling of an eye, thundering and lightning 
crash and flash, threaten utter destruction to every 
vessel in the port^ or sailing on the boisterous sea, and 
we, to save our lives, are obliged to throw overboard a^ 
large portion of the cargo. Yet, the storm soon abates, 
the sea is calm again, and the sailor passes with his 
frightened crew, the narrow strait oi danger. Trust 
in Jesus ! He is the Captain, the vessel is His Church, 
and we are the crew crossing the ocean of time and 
instability. 

Since October, 1875, I have been connected with. 
Mt. Union College, Stark County, Ohio, as Business 
Agent. An Institution for both sexes, of high stand- 
ing, and unsurpassed in the course of study, embracing^ 
a department of Science, Literature, and Art; Nor- 
mal School of Design; Conservatory of Music, and 
Business College, together with apparatus and Museum, 
worth over a quarter million dollars, wherewith to- 
illustrate and apply each study. 




BENEDICTINE MONK. 



CHAPTER XL 

CONYENTICAL LIFE, TO BE DATED BACK TO 340 ; 

Paul^ of TJiebes^ and St. Antony — Ascetics^ hermits^ recluses — 
Simon a Syriam — Pachomius — Benedict the founder of the 
Benedictine Order — St. Bernard^ John of Damascus. — The 
monks are hypocrites — Disorderly life in monasteries — Arch- 
Bishop Morton — Cardinal Wolsey. — Joseph II — Monks no- 
toriously guilty — Suppression of monasteries in Portugal^ 
Sardinia. Italy ^ Germany^ etc. — An account of immorality 
— Monks playing cards ^ and being drunk in the Convent at 
P. — Protestants should not send their sons to Catholic schools 
and convents^ etc. 

THE monastic life in the Catliolic Churcli, is to be 
dated back as far as to the middle of the fourth 
century, when it began in Egypt with Paul, of Thebes 
and St. Antony, the former of whom died in 340, and 
the latter at the age of 104 years, in A. D., 356. 
There were in the early church, indeed^ ascetics, that 
is, persons who retired from the customary business of 
life, and devoted themselves to the duties of piety and 
devotion. The life of asceti'cs varied from that of 
hermits and recluses. A recluse is a person who lives 
in seclusion, from intercourse with the world, yet 
among the people of the world ; but a hermit is a per- 
son who retires from society, abides in solitude, and 



122 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

lives on the wild fruits and vegetables of the earth, in 
-a desert place. Ascetics sought, without forsaking all 
society, to mortify the flesh and cultivate an uncom- 
mon degree of piety, by retiring from the ordinary 
business of life, and devoting themselves especially to 
spiritual exercises. At first, the monks of the Catho- 
lic church led a strictly hermit life, secluding them- 
selves from all society, dwelling in caves, clothing 
themselves in rough apparel, as in the skins of w^ild 
beasts, living on bread and water, or the products of a 
solitary place, and gave themselves up to prayer and 
meditation. Among the hermits may be reckoned the 
^^Pillar"-saints, whose founder, Simon, a Syrian, is 
said to have lived thirty-seven years on a pillar, three 
feet in diameter, and elevated nine feet above the 
ground. 

Another step in the development of monachism was 
taken in the early christian era. It consisted in the 
b)ringing together into a community, those w^ho wished 
to live apart from the society of the world, and to 
devote themselves to spiritual exercises. This is the 
cloister life or monasticism, in the usual sense of the 
term, and likewise originated in Egypt, at the close of 
the fourth century, w^ith one of Anthony's disciples 
named Pachomius, and was accomplished against the 
latter part of the sixth century. He was the founder 
of nine monasteries, for men, and one for women, and 
established a system of rules requiring the monks, as 
they were called, from the Greek word '^ monos" (alone), 
to practice a solitary life, manual labor, spirital exer- 
cises, restraint of the bodily appetites, and strict 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 123 

obedience to their president or abbot. From Egypt 
the monastic system was carried by Helerion, into 
Palestine ; by Athanasius to Rome ; by Eustathius 
into Armenia and Paphlagonia; by Basil into Pontus; 
by Martin into Gaul ; and by others into other parts 
of the world. The monastic life spread thus rapidly 
over the whole Christian world, and was for centuries 
the chief repository of Christianity. Under St. Bene- 
dict, from whom the Benedictines derived their name 
and origin, who was living in the sixth century, 
monastic orders were instituted; that is, a number of 
monasteries were united under one rule of life, and 
one government. 

Benedict was born at Norcia, Italy, A. D., 472, 
and at the age of fourteen, having been sent to Rome 
for his education, became disgusted with the prevalent 
dissipations, ran away, and hid himself for several 
years in a cave, at Subiaco, about thirty miles east 
from Rome. History states of his early youth, that 
he was violently tormented by satanic temptations to 
lust, but he is said to have overcome them, by rolling 
himself among brambles, and thus lacerating his body. 
Subsequently, the monks of the neighboring monastery, 
chose him for their Superior ; but soon the rigor of his 
discipline offended them. They plotted a conspiracy, 
attempting to poison him. Upon this he returned to 
his cave, and it is believed, that at the end of his life, 
he had twelve monasteries under his jurisdiction. In 
529, he instituted the Benedictine order, and died 545. 
As has already been intimated, the Benedictine 
order spead over Europe with great rapidity, and in, 



12^ SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

t 
the ninth century, when other monastic societies be- 
came extinct, the Benedictines flourished. Several 
Catholic writers enumerate two hundred and fifty car- 
dinals, seventeen hundred arch-bishops, forty-five 
hundred bishops, sixteen thousand five hundred abbots 
and learned men, who all belonged to this order ; some 
historians reckon among its members, twenty-four 
popes, sixteen hundred bishops, and four thousand 
canonized saints, including St. Bernard, St. John, of 
Damascus, Antonius, and others, of the most illustrious 
men in the annals of the Roman Catholic church. 

Augustine, with forty other monks, of the Bene- 
dictine order, came into Britain in A. D., 569, con- 
verted the King of Kent, and most of his subjects, 
from idolatry to Christianity, and was elected the first 
arch-bishop of Canterbury. The early Benedictines 
were unquestionably virtuous, upright, and useful, but 
as the order grew powerful and rich, discipline was re- 
laxed, and voluptuousness, indolence, pride, vice, wicked 
ness, and even criminality, took possession of the very 
cloisters, that still feigned piety. Jesus said: ^'be- 
ware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypoc- 
risy." And I can truly say, from what I know, 
beware of the hypocrisy of Benedictines, Jesuits, and 
all monkery in America, (and, of course, those in 
Europe not to be excluded), for here we enjoy abun- 
dantly the various fruits of European transplantation. 
The very roots of monkery, however sweet and beau- 
tiful the fruit of its branches may appear to the 
inhabitants of the Western continent, are hypocrisy. 
^^They speak with a double heart." Jer. XII: 2. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 125 

*^They are pure in their own eyes, yet ^re not washed 
from their filthiness." Prov. XXX: 12. "They 
trust in themselves, that they are righteous and despise 
others.'' Luke, XVIII: 9. "They proclaim their 
own goodness." Prov., XX: 6. " They pray stand- 
ing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the 
streets, that they may be seen of men," Math. VI : 
6. In prayer, they say : " God, I thank thee, I am 
not as other men are, extortioners, etc." Luke, XVIII : 
11. " When they fast, they disfigure their faces, that 
they may appear unto men to fast." Luke, VI : 16. 
" They make clean the outside of the cup and platter, 
but Avithin are full of extortion and excess." Math. 
XXIII: 35. Like whited sepulchres, outwardly beau- 
tiful, but within are full of rottenness." Math. XXIII : 
27. " Outwardly they appear righteous unto men, 
but within are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Math. 
XXIII: 28. 

" They compass sea and land to make one prose- 
lyte, and make him two-fold more the child of hell, 
than themselves." "The hypocrite's hope shall perish." 
Job VIII •: 13. " Ye serpents, ye generation of vi- 
pers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell. Math. 
XXIII: 33. 

In all ages of the past, and even in the nineteenth 
century, great evils have been connected with the 
monastic system. It is afiirmed by Protestant writers 
and by most Roman Catholics also. It is an undenia- 
ble fact, a sad reality, and Avhoever contradicts these 
unanimous assertions, both of papal and anti-papal 
reliable authorities, protects convents' secret infamy. 



126 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

and truth is not dwelling in him. It is well known, 
though Roman Catholic Manuscripts and Records have 
been hidden, as long as possible, to protestant investi- 
gations, that the regulation or reformation of convents 
and monastic orders has largely occupied the time and 
attention of general and of other councils, and that 
convents and monastic orders have often been sup- 
pressed in Roman Catholic countries, as either useless 
or injurious. 

Omitting the investigations from the seventh to the 
fifteenth century, which the councils made in matters 
relating to monastic life in convents, I will refer you 
to actions of a late date. In 1490, Pope Innocent 
VIII, issued a bull setting forth the reprobate lives led 
by the English monastic orders, directing Archbishop 
Morton to admonish the Superiors of all convents in 
his province to reform themselves, giving him authoritjr 
to enforce his admonitions upon them. The achbishop 
fulfilled the orders of the pope, examining the condi- 
tion of the convents in his province everywhere, and 
writing a letter to the abbot of St. Alban's, described 
the monks of that abbey as notoriously guilty, not 
only of libertinism in all its forms, but of almost 
every kind of enormity. Cardinal Wolsey, who was 
papal legate in England, as well as the energetic min- 
ister of King Henry VIII, obtained from the pope in 
1524, two bulls, suppressing many convents on the 
ground of the great wickedness, lewdness, extrava- 
gance and disobedience, that prevailed in them. Joseph 
II, Roman Catholic emperor of Germany, in 1781, 
subjected the monastic fraternities in his empire to 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 127 

diocesan jurisdiction, and suppressed all convents not 
employed in education, in pastoral duties, or in nurs- 
ing the sick. For what reason ? Because of the im- 
morality that prevailed in the majority of the convents 
in his empire. The French revolution, in 1790, swept 
away the religious orders in France, and even endan- 
gered their existence throughout Europe. Convents 
were almost entirely suppressed in Portugal in 1834, 
and in Spain in 1835. By a law of the Sardinian 
government, the property, two thousand one hundred 
monasteries and nunneries was confiscated and sold, 
from 1855 to 1860, and the proceeds were invested for 
a common school fund ; and by a law of the Italian 
government, passed in 1866, all the convents in Italy 
were closed, and their property confiscated for the use 
of the State. Convents are suppressed in Austria, in 
France, and in all the Catholic countries of Europe. 
Why is it ? I ask this question for my own informa- 
tion ; that Catholic convents have suifered the greatest 
animosity from their own governments, since the refor- 
mation, and are suppressed at present almost every- 
where, except in the free American Republic. I am 
morally convinced that they either must be useless or 
dangerous Institutions, even now-a-days. No wonder, 
therefore, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and the 
Protestant empire of Grermany have prohibited the 
existence of convents in their domain. Yes, there is 
danger in various respects, and I advise slumbering 
America to open the doors of convents for inspection. 
If county and state prisons, alms-houses and asylums, 
are subject to inspection in this country, why should 



128 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

not convents and monasteries be inspected? Not for 
me, most certainly not; I kno\Y about them all I 
desire to know, and more too, but for the safety of this 
free country ! 

It was only last winter, when on a lecturing tour 
through West Va., a friend in Wheeling invited me to 
take supper with him. After supper he brought up 
the subject of convents, saying, " he had desired to see 
me, that I might inform him about the mode of their 
living ; that two years since he took one of his sons to 
a Benedictine Convent, in P., purposing to give him a 
•thorough education. Being very weary, he retired at 
ten o'clock, and immediately fell asleep, but was 
aroused about one or two o'clock, by a peculiar noise 
above his head. Just what happened, he was unable 
to tell, yet it left the impression upon his mind, that 
something fell so hard that the whole house shook. 
Prom that moment he could not sleep ; the noise being 
continued, as though persons were knocking about 
tables, chairs, and feet. It seemed to him their 
tnuckles were freely used on the table. Next morn- 
ing, when passing by the door of that room, in which 
he had heard the noise, he felt a great desire to know 
positively the cause of such disturbance. It just hap- 
pened that the door was ajar; he opened it quietly, far 
enough to behold a panorama of four self-denying 
monks, three lying on the floor, and one in the bed, 
snoring like young elephants ; a large pitcher standing 
on a wet table, cards scattered about, the exhibition 
of a disorderly apartment, and, still tarrying, his nos- 
trils were filled with the sweet perfume of consumed 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 129 

tobacco, wine and liquor.'^ " Ah, sir, said he, during 
the night I could not believe my ears, and then I mis- 
trusted my eyes.'^ What do you suppose they were 
doing?" I replied: '^ you are of age, judge for your- 
self." '^Well, said he, I was so bewildered and dis- 
gusted with them, that I left immediately, and it seemed 
to me a dream. On my way home, I meditated upon, 
whether I should entrust my son to their educational 
care, or put him to a trade, thinking, myself, if these 
be the results of a higher education, I was glad that I 
never had one, and unwilling that my son should have 
it." I answered: ^^if protestants have more confi- 
dence in Catholic Schools, than their own, which are 
far superior to the former, in moral respects ; compare 
with them favorably, in all studies that pertain to the 
so-called classical course, and are, by no means, infe- 
rior in modern sciences^ than we, as a protestant 
people, should be held responsible for the sad conse- 
quences, that necessarily arise from ignorant stub- 
borness in patronizing Catholic education, not only to 
protestanism as a church, but also as a state." 

" What in the world, said he, are these priests or 
monks in convents practicing before their young 
students, who come to receive an education in morals, 
as well as in science, in order to fit themselves for a 
useful life ? " " Sir, is this the case in all convents ? 
you know more about their conduct than I, and I wish 
jou would tell me candidly." I replied : " even monks 
in the sacred walls of convent life, commit many dis- 
graceful deeds, but they are in almost every instance 
covered over and kept from public criticism. And how 



130 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

could it be otherwise; reason for yourself? As 
America has received for centuries but the scum of 
humanity from foreign nations, so convents receive only 
the outcast, if I may say so, of Catholic Christianity, 
Too frequently are convents the places of refuge for 
morally, scientifically, or financi^illy bankrupt persons,, 
the sanctuaries of comfort, for disappointed lovers, 
the homesteads of oppressed bachelors, who have not 
the courage to appear on the battle-field of the worlds 
but hide themselves from satan^s attacks, in conventi- 
cal cells." 

Mr. v., a student of the Gymnasium and Univer- 
sity in Minster, Westphalia, an habitual drunkard, 
having wasted all his substance, and being forsaken by 
friends and relations, entered the Capuchin Convent in 
W., in 1857. The provincial of this convent was 
desirous to know something about the moral character 
of his new applicant, and is said to have received this 
^' Recommendation" from the Rector of the Univer- 
sity, on his inquiry : 

" We hereby state, that Mr. V. hunts for beer-kegs 
in the morning, and in the afternoon is always a barrel 
of beer himself." 

From such sources, European convents generally 
draw their subjects (some of their inmates are consid- 
ered to have but half sense). In the halls of convents 
you will find those who, being educated from their 
childhood in a monastery, decide to remain there, and 
become monks without knowing why, and give up, 
with alacrity, a world which they have never seen; 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 131 

there you will find those, who blindly following their 
instructor's declarations, against conjugal love and 
domestic afi'ection, believe that matrimony is an insti- 
tution unholy, and tending to eradicate the love of 
Christ. 

The doctrines of the bible on this subject are dis- 
torted by sanctimonious monks. This one, of their 
candidates is compelled to go, and the other, does not 
know why he goes. Moreover, I look upon monastic 
life as dangerous to society, from the facilities which it 
ofi*ers to the commission of offences against morality 
and liberty. As a general thing, monasteries are 
inhabited by disappointed students, spendthrifts, and 
men vfho have tried every way, but failed and despaired 
to make their earthly fortune in any other way, by 
;subjects without literary, moral and commercial ambi- 
tion, and they are, therefore, often called " Refugia 
Peccatoriim^^ (the places of refuge to sinners ;) but 
they are also, in many instances, the hiding-places of 
a criminal aristocracy, to hide their punishable acts 
from the sight of humanity, and protect them against 
the execution of justice. 

Whilst we were speaking about convent life, my 
friend's son, who had been listening to our conversa- 
tion, interrupted us, saying : '' That they had high 
times in the Benedictine convent at the time he was 
•student there ; they celebrated every other week, the 
"day of a Saint, and obtained on such days, beer by the 
buckets ; the monks had their own brewery, drank 
T)eer in large quantities, played cards and committed 
such things as protestants would not approve of/' 



132 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Rev. Sch., a disciple of the Benedictine monks in 
P., thought it best, that the priests among themselves 
should act freely, without compulsion, but in the 
presence of laymen be reserved. Whenever it was 
expedient, he arranged it so, that his good works might 
appear before men, the prayers of his daily office, the 
meditations of his own choice, the beads of his rosary,, 
and the pious attitude of his body. His parsonage 
was situated at a public highway, and he exposed the 
piety of his character to the vicinity and passers by 
without reserve and prudence. He acted so foolishly, 
that I understood perfectly well, the secret weakness 
of his heart, when I had met him only a few times. 
In society he put on the face of mortification and 
sobriety, seldom smiling, never jesting, always being 
devout, temperate and clerical beyond measure in ap- 
pearance, refusing the use of tobacco, wine, beer, and 
liquor, but alas, at home using it freely. Before a 
social gathering he spoke saintly, but in priestly con- 
ventions at home, he did not despise the language of 
profanity. I sometimes called him the greatest hypo- 
crite under the sun, asking him : " where in the world 
he learned his priestly tricks !" and he replied, '^ you 
know, among the pious monks." 

Rev. M., D.D., at St. Peters, in Ch,, had received 
his education in a Benedictine convent. He was an 
excellent preacher, but the poorest specimen of a priest 
I ever saw, because he consumed about as many kegs 
of wine as there are weeks in a year, and besides all 
the beer, any man might wish for. I judge from ap-^ 
pearance, his weight was not less than two hundred 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, m 

fifty pounds, and I fear that his physical balance out- 
weighed his moral, far. Poor soul, he was as kind and 
liberal a man as ever lived on the face of the earth, 
but he made an idol of his belly, which he worshipped 
alone. At the time, when I built the Catholic Church 
at Goshen, I became acquainted with him, and by 
direction of my bishop, I borrowed several hundred 
dollars of him, that I might be able to meet certain 
church claims in due time. Since then, I received 
from time to time, invitations from his church trustees^ 
to administer in their new Cathedral, and I made it 
once or twice convenient to comply with their request. 
On one occasion, I stayed with their pastor over Sunday, 
and used all my eloquence to break him of his ruinous 
habit, but in vain. The spirit was willing, but the flesh 
was weak. I would not dare" to bestow upon him the 
appelation of "Benedictine^^ (blessed) for he truly 
deserved the name of " Maledictine^^ (cursed). 

A strange story was told about him, but I heard it 
only once. I can't answer for its truth. I was told: 
by a reliable person; that Father M., being under the 
influence of wine, was accustomed to retire to his bed-: 
room in the afternoon, and during the hot summer 
season, repose on the .floor, instead of the bed. One 
afternoon, being very drunk, he retired quietly, but 
missed the door of his apartment, taking a spare room 
for his resting-place. In the evening, at the usual 
hour, his niece, a young lady, who had been on a visit 
there for some months, retired without a lamp, it being 
moon-light. She heard some body snoring, however 
paid no attention to it, thinking it was in the next 



134 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

room, where her uncle slept. She soon fell asleep. 
During the night she was suddenly alarmed by a 
strange movement under her bedstead, and while the 
movement was rapidly repeated again and again, the 
girl flew down stairs like a bird, almost frightened to 
death, constantly calling for help. The house-keeper 
came Avith a light ; the two took courage, examined the 
fact, and behold! met Father M, in the hall, wander- 
ing about to find the door of his room. It seemed that 
he had rolled partly under the bed in his drunken con- 
dition, and, attempting to rise, caused the noise. He 
died with the delirium tremens, eleven years ago, being 
sick for about three weeks. Oh, Lord, I hope that he 
may have received thy pardon, before he closed the 
career of his misspent life. Man has but one soul ; if 
this is lost, all is lost. If we had two souls, we might 
afford to lose one, but since we have only one soul, we 
must save that, or will be lost in eternal misery. 
When a person loses his residence by fire he erects a 
new one ; when he loses his position, he may secure 
another one, but if he loses his immortal soul, there is 
no remedy to repair the great evil. Time, life, soul, 
heaven, may be lost in one moment. Oh Lord, help us, 
that we may act our part, whilst it is day. 

Here I will insert a letter, which I received from 
a friend, who had been educated in a Benedictine con- 
vent for the priesthood, and was at the time, pastor of 
the Catholic church in . 

September 12, 1865. 

" Rev. and Bear Friend : Last Sunday, the entire 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 135 

congregation held a meeting in the school-house, and 
after debating pro and con, the following resolution 
was passed : ' That the bishop should come thither at 
an early hour, to investigate things and bring them in 
order again/ If you could come to see me personally, 
I might tell you the accurate circumstances ; please 
come, if it is possible. They also intend to bring for- 
ward all things. What do you think, would it be well 
to write immediately to Michigan, that they should not 
intermingle with this case. But fearing that my letter 
may be intercepted here by the enemy, I ask of you, 

as a friend, this favor, to write forth w^ith to P. B., 

•852, , that they may abstain from an interference. 

What you must wTite, you know yourself. Do me 
that favor, but soon, and I w^ill remain your grateful 
friend, ' N. N." 

He requested me to assist him in his trials, which 
he had brought upon himself, by keeping a young mis- 
tress in his house for several years, the daughter of a 
respected farmer in the .vicinity, and a child of rare 
heauty and modesty. I visited him, purposing to give 
him all my assistance he needed, for I thought that he 
was a. model-priest, and worthy of my protection. 
At the time of my investigation into circumstances, t 
could not learn all the particulars, but from what I 
learned, I was inclined to believe that he might be in- 
nocent. I was under the impression that his calamity 
was brought about by his own imprudent acts, caused 
by the natural gayety of his young life, and a net of 
slander woven about him by a lurking and suspicious 



136 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

World. But since I abandoned the church of Rome, - 
learned some particulars, which justify me in believ- 
ing that he was not only guilty in one, but in two other 
cases of seduction. Oh, what a great evil celibacy is 
in the Catholic Church, and what a hypocritical pre- 
tension on part of the priesthood, that it is observed 
by their priests, who are married by a solemn vow of 
chastity to Christ alone, whose Church is the professed 
Virgin of purity. He is a father, in three instances, 
and it appears a double criminal one, in procuring 
medicine for abortion. 

Rev. Gerdeman touches, in one of his lectures on 
Romanism, the point, saying: "Priests are not allowed 
to marry ; would to God they were. They are called 
fathers by the people, and unfortunately, with many, 
it is not only a name, but ^ sadre'ality ; not the honored, 
hallow^ed name of father, but a name whispering of 
shame and a broken heart, if not a ruined family. 
Undoubtedly, the young men, who are ordained priests, 
are generally pure, sincere and good. But, alas ! the 
system of celibacy, at all times the bane of the Catho- 
lic ministry, too often ruins them. Bishop Wood told 
me of many priests in his diocese, whom he character- 
ized as immoral and thoroughly bad men, who to this 
day hold their offices." So it is with my former friend ; 
to-day, he holds his office and dwells in a principal 
city near the heart of his bishop. 

" Marry, forsooth, says Rev, Gerdeman, in an hon- 
orable way. It is better, the pope teaches, for a priest 
to have two concubines, than marry one woman law-^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. IST 



fully. Shame upon such morality ! shame upon the 
Church with such teaching." 

Matters introduced here, relative to B^edictines, 
are, no doubt, equally true of all Roman Catholic 
monks, and their students. And I wish to say, that 
the successors of St. Benedict, when tormented by 
Satanic temptations to lust, in their unfortunate state 
of celibacy, would do well to practice the "rolling 
among brambles," and thus '^ lacerating their bodies," 
they surely will conquer. But if they live in a part 
of the country, where brambles are scarce, they should 
take a bushel of hickory nuts, crack them carefully 
up, scatter the shells in a room on a solid floor, roll 
from one to two hours, and it will have the same effect 
upon their skin ; but whether upon their soul, I don't 
know. 

In regard to the rules and regulations, they differ 
somewhat in the various orders, however. I will refer 
you to those of the Benedictines :- 

Benedictine laid down the following rules, and in- 
troduced this system for the government of the "Ben- 
edictine Monks." 

" The monks w^ere to rise at 2 o'clock a. m., in the 
winter, (and in the summer, at such hours as the abbot 
might direct ;) repair to the place of worship for 
vigils, (night watches or prayers), and then spend the 
remainder of the night in committing psalms, private 
meditation and reading. At sunrise, they assembled 
for matins (morning prayers), then spent four hours in 
labor ; then two hours in reading ; then dined and 
read in private, till half past two o'clock P. M. ; whea 



138 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

they met again for worship ; and afterwards labored 
till their Vespers (afternoon prayers). In their vigils 
and mating, twenty-four psalms were to be chanted 
each day, so as to complete the Psalter every week. 
Besides their social worship, seven hours each day 
were devoted to labor ; two, at least, to private study; 
one to private meditation ; and the rest to meals, sleep, 
and refreshment. The labor was agriculture, garden- 
ing, and various mechanical trades, and each one was 
put to such labor as his superior saw fit ; for they all 
renounced, wholly, every species of personal liberty. 
They ate twice a day, at a common table ; first about 
noon, and then at evening. Both the quantity and 
quality of their food were limited. To each was 
allowed one pound of bread per day, and a small 
quantity of wine. (During my clerical administration, 
I visited Bev. M., in Auglaize County, Ohio, and 
by one of his parishioners was told, '' that their pastor 
considered forty glasses of lager beer each day a small 
quantity"). To make rules, and to observe rules, are 
two entirely different things. On the public table no 
meat was allowed, but always two kinds of porridge. 
To the sick, flesh was allowed. While at table, all 
conversation was prohibited ; and some one read aloud 
during meal-time. They all served as cooks and 
waiters, by turns of a week each. Their clothing was 
coarse and simple, and regulated at the direction of 
the abbot. Each was provided with tAvo suits; a knife, 
a needle, and all other necessaries. They slept in 
common dormitories, of ten or twenty, in separate 
beds, without undressing, and had a light burning, and 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 139 

an inspector sleeping in each dormitory. They were 
allowed no conversation after they retired, nor at any 
time were permitted to jest, or to talk for mere 
amusement. No one should receive a present of any 
kind, not even from a parent ; nor have any corres- 
pondence with persons without the monastery, except 
by its passing under the inspection of the abbot. The 
porter always sat at the gate, which was kept locked, 
day and night ; and no stranger was admitted without 
leave from the abbot ; and no monk could go out, unless 
he had permission from the same source. The school 
for the children of the neighborhood, was kept without 
the walls. The whole establishment was under an 
abbot, whose power was despotic. ^ His under officers 
were a prior or deputy, steward, a superintendent of 
the sick, and the hospital, and an attendant on visitors, 
etc., with the necessary assistants, or a number of 
deans or inspectors, over tens, w^ho attended the monks 
at all times. The abbot was elected by the common 
suffrage of the brotherhood ; and when inaugurated, 
he appointed and removed his under officers at 
pleasure. On great emergencies, he summoned the 
whole brotherhood to meet in council ; and on more 
common occasions, only the seniors, but in either case, 
after hearing what each one was pleased to say, the 
decision rested wholly with himself. For admission to 
the society, a probation of twelve months was required; 
during which, the applicant was fed and clothed, and 
employed in the meaner offices of the monks, and 
closely watched. At the end of his probation, if ap- 
proved, he took solemn and irrevocable vows of perfect 



140 SIJT YEARS A PRIEST; 

chastity, absolute poverty, and implicit obedience to 
his superiors in every thing. If he had property, he 
must give all away, either to his friends, or the poor, 
or to the monastery ; and never after must possess the 
least particle of private property, nor claim any per- 
sonal rights or liberties. For lighter offences, a 
reprimand vv^as to be administered by some under 
oiScer. For greater offences, after two admonitions, 
a person Avas debarred his privileges, not allowed to 
read in his turn, or to sit at table, or enjoy his modi- 
cum of comforts. If still refractory, he was expelled 
from the monastery; yet, still might be restored on 
repentance. 

There was, at^ first, no particular vow required on 
entering a monastic life, and no prohibition of quitting 
it. The monks w^ere also, at first, all laymen ; some 
of them married and fathers", others unmarried ; but 
soon there were bishops and other clergj^, who adopted 
a strictly conventical life, and there were monks, who 
w^ere laymen, but were chosen to be clergymen. Even 
from the fifth to the eight century, cloisters were con- 
sidered to be a nursery for the clergy, especially for 
the bishops. To-day, v/hoever enters the monastic 
life, monks and brothers, and nuns are required to 
make a solemn vow, embracing three things : " Vol- 
untary Poverty ^^^ (a leaving of all things, by our own 
free will, to follow Christ ;) '^ Perpetual Chastity,^' (a 
voluntary abstaining from marriage, in order to dedi- 
cate one's self in a more special manner to the love 
and service of God;) and '^ Entire Obedience/^ (a total 
subjection of one's own will to lawful superiors, in all 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 141 

that is not sin). And after the candidate for any con- 
vent has made this vow, it cannot be revoked ; he is 
obliged to live and die in his monastery, and even in 
case of a suppression of the order, by civil govern- 
ments, he is ordered by his superiors, to observe the 
rules of his order, wherever he may go. This irrevo- 
cableness of monastic vows gradually become an 
established doctrine ; so much so, that even in our 
present century of papal infallibility, those w^ho vio- 
late it, forfeit their immortal soul's eternal salvation. 

The monasteries, against the close of the fifth 
century were placed under the jurisdiction of their 
respective bishops, and so it prevails to-day. The 
monastic constitution, as it now exists, is, in most 
cases, an absolute monarchy, and dangerous to free 
countries. In most orders, the " Superior" or other 
head of a convent is elected by the members of the 
convent ; the superiors in a province elect the provin- 
cials, assembled in a general convention, elect their 
general. Among the Jesuits, however, and some other 
orders, the general appoints the provincials and supe- 
jriors. The "• Generals" of most all orders, several of 
which reside at Rome, are subordinate only to the 
pope. An " Abbey" is a convent, whose head is styled 
an " abbot" or '' abbess." The Superior of an abbey 
is a " mitred abbot," when he has the rank of a bishop, 
as the Benedictine abbot at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, or 
the Trappist abbot at New Haven, Kentucky, or the 
abbots of St. Meinard, Indiana, of New Melleray, 
Iowa, of Clinton., Minnesota, etc. 

Since the suppression of the monasteries in Euro- 



142 SIX YEARS A FRIES T; 

pean countries, they grow very rapidly in the United 
States, and the British Possessions in America. Most 
rapidly, indeed, are growing the following orders : 

The Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, Basi- 
lians, Capuchins, Redemptorists, Lazarists, etc., and 
the Jesuits outstrip them all. The Jesuistic orders in 
the United States and Canada, are divided into the 
province of Maryland, having establishments in the 
dioceses of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Portland and 
Boston ; the vice province of Missouri, having houses 
in the viioceses of St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, 
Chicago, and Milwaukee ; the mission of Canada and 
New York, having houses in the dioceses of New- 
York. Albany, Biiifalo, Quebec, Montreal, London and 
Hamilton (Canada West ;) the mission of Louisiana, 
with the houses in the dioceses of New Orleans and 
Mobile ; and the mission of California. 

The Colleges of the Jesuits in the United States 
are as follows : College of St. Francis Xavier, New- 
York ; St. John's, Fordham, N. Y. ; St. Joseph's, 
Philadelphia ; of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massa- 
chusetts ; St. John's. Frederic, Md. ; Loyola, Balti- 
more ; Gonsaga, Washington, D. C, ; Georgetown, D. 
C. ; Spring Hill, Ala. ; St. Louis University, St. Louis, 
Mo. ; College of the " Immaculate Conception," New 
Orleans ; St. Charles's, Grand Coteau, La. ; Saint 
Joseph's, Bardstown, Ky. ; St. Xavier's, Cincinnati; 
St. Clara, Col., in Canada ; St. Mary's diocese, of 
Montreal. 

The number of Jesuits in the United States in 
1860, was six hundred and seventy. In 1870, about 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 143 



> 



twelve hundred ; and in 1876, about eighteen hundred; 
and to the above number of institutions, we must add 
from nine to eleven. There are some institutions 
reported, without any indication, that they are con- 
trolled by the Jestiits, but I am under the impression^ 
that they are. There are also several hundred scho- 
lastic and lay-brothers, and if the omissions and blanks 
were all filled out, they would number from seven to 
eight hundred. The organization of the Jesuistic 
order is perfect ; its subordination is complete ; and 
its leaders unquestionably have laid their plans deep, 
and are mustering their forces and devoting all their 
powers and secret energies to take possession of this 
broad, new, free land, and they will conduct the cam- 
paign of their political stratagem in future elections^ 
till they see their pathway crowned with success. They 
are never idle ; there is a catholic wire-pulling all over 
this country ; a Jesuistic, monastic, and clerical web 
spread in every direction. 

The present number of Benedictine monks^ who 
live on an intimate footing with the Jesuits, is given 
as five thousand five hundred, in Europe and America. 
The monastic establishments of this order, in this 
country, we find in the dioceses of Chicago, Coving- 
ton, Erie, Newark, Pittsburgh, St. Paul, Vincennes ; 
a convent in Spencer County, Indiana, etc. The 
priests, lay-brothers, novices, etc., in the United States, 
number five hundred or more. If we include the 
Trappists, a branch of the Benedictines, and the most 
vigorous of Roman Catholic religious orders, with ijts 
two convents; one, "Abbey of our Lady of La- 

10 



1^ ^ SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Trappe'' in Nelson County, Kentucky ; the other, 
'- New Melleray Abbey, '^ twelve miles from Dubuque, 
Iowa ; the numbers five hundred will increase to five 
hundred and forty, and five thousand five hundred to 
nine thousand five hundred. 

The Franciscans were the first missionaries, that 
came to the New World in 1493, at the time when 
Columbus crossed the ocean on his second voyage. 
They established themselves in San Domingo, in 1502, 
and attempted in 1528, to establish themselves in 
Florida. One of them visited California in 1539, and 
named the country San Francisco ; another founded a 
mission in Texas 1544, and subsequently others did 
the same in Canada, etc. They are reported now to 
he established in twenty-six dioceses in the United 
States. They have in New-York city two houses ; 
and one at Allegheny, N. Y. ; they have convents in 
St. Louis County, Missouri ; at Teutopolis, Illinois ; 
Boston, Massachusetts ; Winsted, Ct. ; Brooklyn and 
Buffalo, N. Y. ; Trenton, N. J. ; Erie, Pa. ; Cleveland, 
Ohid ; Oldenburgh, Indiana ; Louisville, Kentucky, etc. 
The Franciscans number, in the United States, about 
five hundred monks, three hundred lay-brothers, and 
four hundred and fifty females or sisters of St. Fran- 
cis ; and though much reduced in number, since the 
French revolution of 1789, they are still, by far, the 
most numerous of the monastic orders, amounting to 
fifty -five thousand at the present time. Yet, I cannot 
enumerate all the orders, and must defer it to some 
future time. Howevier, to give you an estimate of the 
large number of convents, both male and female, and 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 145 

of their inmates, who are imprisoned there by a per- 
petual vow, I will say this much, that, after a careful 
examination, both from European and American sta- 
tistics, I find that the w^hole number of '' Monastic 
Institutions" in the Roman Catholic Church, is estima- 
ted as follows : male orders, eighty-three, with seven 
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two establish- 
ments, and one hundred and thirty thousand five 
hundred members ; female orders and congregations, 
ninety-four, with ten thousand eight hundred houses, 
and one hundred and fortv thousand members. This 
is the result obtained from statistics of 1865, 1870, 
and 1874. 

But an authority, the statistical ''Year Book" of 
the Church, published at Ratisbon, in Southern Ger- 
many, in 1862, 'by a Carmelite monk, and quoted in 
the Catholic Almanac, for 1870, gives more complete 
statistics, and estimates the whole number of male 
monasteries and establishments at eight thousand, with 
an ao-oireorate of one hundred and seventeen thousand 
£ve hundred members, and the whole number of female 
monasteries (nunneries) and establishments, at ten 
thousand, with an aggregate membership of one 
"hundred and eighty-nine thousand. Just think of it, 
all these orders being suppressed in foreign countries, 
catholic and protestant, seek for protection in the 
New World. Why! this free country, this land of re- 
ligious liberty, will be overwhelmed with monastic 
immigration, and dotted with monasteries and nunne- 
ries in less than ten years hence ! They are just about 
to put up their prison-pens and medieval castles of 



146 SIX TEARS A PRIEST; 

high walled conveuts everywhere, in the principal cities 
and leading towns, in the North and South, in the 
East and West, where every one, who has taken the 
irrevocable vows of chastity, poverty, and obe- 
dience, is compelled to stay, and close the days of 
his mortal career, notwithstanding he may afterwards 
decide to change the hasty act of his solemn contract. 
Too late ! forever too late ! Neither pope nor priest 
will declare it null and void. Neither desire after his 
parental home, nor grief, nor sigh, nor tear, nor prayer 
and entreaty, nor prostration to his mitred abbot's feet 
will procure to a professed recluse, release from the 
strong fetters of religious snares, by which he is tan- 
gled in monastic enticement. By fraudulent escape 
alone, if he will return to the world's innocent and 
social joys, he must secure his former liberty. And 
what then, after having secured it ? Alas, his scrupu- 
lous parents disown him ; his people, prejudiced against 
him by false religious principles, despise him ; his 
ghostly father reproaches him, discourages him, refuses 
him the absolution of hi? sins, till he returns to former 
bondage, and the holy father himself pronounces an. 
anathema against the perfidious friar. And that is 
not all ; persecution, imprisonment and death, may be 
his final lot. 

In 1863, a friend of mine escaped from his monas- 
tic prison in Germany, and protected by the favors of 
a stormy night, came to America, the land of religious 
liberty. From New-York I received a letter to meet 
him in Ft. Wayne, introduce him to Bishop Luers,and 
assist him to obtain a situation in that diocese. I met 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 147 

him, and interceded for him.- He proved to be a good 
singer, a fine orator, and a man of social entertain- 
ment, and was soon beloved by his bishop. Once, I 
asked this escaped monk, in a confidential conversa- 
tion : ^' Frank, why did you leave your convent?'^ 
He replied: ^^ I would have lost my soul in that Con- 
vent, at D.. and therefore, I left it." To my question 
what was Avrong there ; I thought the provincial was 
such a good and holy man, he replied: " You don't know 
him; he is a devil; full of envy and hypocrisy; and so 
are all the other monks in that monastery :" He said, 
also, " that it happened that the majority of the women 
of that catholic congregation in D., chose him for their 
confessor ; sometimes he had to hear confessions till 
•eleven or twelve o'clock at night, when the other monks 
had been permitted to retire three or four hours before, 
and on account of this circumstance, he had endured a 
treatment, that he would rather wish to a dog than to 
a human being ; adding: that he was entirely disap- 
*pointed in convent life, for there was no peace and 
heaven to be found in the cells of cloisters, as the 
ivorld falsely imagined ; on the other hand, there was 
an everlasting quarrel and hellish envy carried on, and 
for what ? for nothing , for trifles ; things not worthy 
to be mentioned." 

John Evangelist Borzinski, formerly a physician in 
the convent of the Brothers of Mercy, at Prague, in 
Bohemia, having left the convent, and joined a Prot- 
estant church in Prussia, in January, 1855, was ar- 
xested the 14th of March, at his father's house, in 
Prosnitz, Bohemia, and imprisoned, first in a convent 



i48 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

at Prosnitz, and afterwards in a convent of the Brothers: 
of Mercy, at Prague, where he escaped to Prussia m. 
October following. This, and many other cases that 
might be mentioned, show, certainly, that convents, 
may be places of imprisonment. 

UbaldusBorzinski, brother of this last, and a mem- 
ber of the same order, addressed to Pope Pius IX, in 
1854, an earnest petition, particularizing thirty-seven, 
instances of flagrant immorality and crime, committed 
mostly by officials of his order, during ten or twelve 
years previous, and entreating the pope to use his au- 
thority for the correction of such abuses; but, for 
sending this petition, (or rather the dictation of his 
conscience), the petitioner was long imprisoned in a 
part of a convent used as a mad-house. 

It has been proposed, both in America and Europe, 
for the release of those unwillingly detained in con- 
vents, and for the prevention or reiiioval of other 
abuses, to subject them to legislative inspection ;, 
however, as yet, no steps have been taken in this di-- 
rection. Why have they not been taken ? It certainly 
behooves a '' Free Government to inspect any institu- 
tion, political, religious or educational, for the promo- 
tion of its common welfare, for the extension of 
science and morality, for the prevention of maltreat- 
ment and innocent imprisonment; for the protection of 
defenseless victims ; for the elevation of God's king- 
dom upoii earth ; and for people's dearest interest and 
safety. It behooves, not only a '' Free Governmenf^ 
to look into such matters, but it is its solemn duty ta 
protect individuality in persons and communities, and 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 14& 

fcr no other purpose, than the sake of humanity and 
morality. The execution of duty gives liberty ; its 
neglect causes bondage, and in the middle of duty and 
neglect, these two extremities, there is erected the 
peaceable emblem of human and christian compromise ; 
its true humility is the centre between self-exaltation 
and self-humiliation ; so true humanity or (true Chris- 
tianity) is the medium between tolerance and intol- 
erance. When the Jews tempted our Lord to the 
utmost, and put him in such a critical position, that 
every other, even the wisest would have kept silent, or 
in uttering his judgment, might have offended, he said 
promptly and boldly to them : " Give to God, what is 
God's, and to Caesar, what is Caesar's;" and separated 
Church and State, pointing out to each kingdom, the 
divine, as well as civil, the proper boundaries of its 
domain, and dispersing the haughty scribes and pharl- 
sees, his bitter enemies, but he did not exclude certain 
responsibilities relating either to one or the other part, 
in case they should necessarily be demanded by virtue 
of circumstances, originating in civil and religious re- 
lations. America has lawyers of wisdom, men of 
Christianity, now " inspect and act^ Of course, 
Roman Catholics persistently oppose all interference 
of this sort, but I say again, '' inspect and accordingly 
actr 

Why did our government interfere with the pleu- 
rality of wives among the Mormons ? Because it had a 
right to do so, and also a duty to perform, and, there- 
fore, it acted promptly in this matter, though the 
authorities of the Mormons persistently opposed in the 



150 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

beginning. Let no flattery, no bribery, no threats, 
and no forces of fanaticism prevent any patriot from 
the exertion of his influence, and the execution of 
his duty. 




DOMINICAN NUN 



CHAPTER XII. 

CONVENTICAL LIFE. — CONTINUED. 

It is a life of strict obedience^— Orders of Sisters — Degrees of 
Sisterhood — Taking the black veil — Responding from the 
coffin — Jfevj resurrection — Solemn vow — She bequeathes all 
that she possesses — Nuns lives are perfect — Prayer. Hail 
Mary — Frequent confessions of nuns — Through Sisterhood 
the Church is prosperous — Nuns are devout tools — Influence 
of nuns, especially upon their sex — Proselytism through nuns 
— A Jew's daughter, of New Orleans, proselyted — Letter of 
Mollie, Belleville, Illinois, etc. 



ALTHOUGH I have never been a monk, bound by- 
monastic vows, confined to a monastery, or sub- 
ject to the rules of a religious order, yet, I have 
frequently visited convents, as a priest, and obtained 
thus a thorough insight, both of sisterhood and monk- 
ery. Life, in the convent, is a very different thing 
from life under any other surroundings. Like all in- 
stitutional life, it is one of strict obedience to rules and 
regulations laid down for the government of the same. 
These rules and regulations are, in some respects, the 
same in all convents, and in other respects they differ 
very greatly in each Order, whether they are for the 
accommodation of men or women. In these orders we 
find such as sisters of St. Joseph, sisters of visitation, 



152 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

sisters of Charity, Ursuline nuns, sisters of Notre 
Dame, siisters of Mercy, sisters of the Sacred Hearty 
of Jesus and Mary. All these, and a hundred more, 
have some peculiarity in the rules and regulations that 
govern them as individual orders or communities, that 
makes them different from each other. Such, as for 
instance, is the order of the little sisters of the poor: 
They never sleep on beds ; they use mats of straw^ 
with but little covering at any time, and that the 
same, winter or summer ; and are divided into bands,, 
such as we would call praying bands. One of these 
bands are praying continually before the altar, where 
the blessed sacrament is kept, so that day or nighty 
there shall be prayer offered to the Saint, under whose 
protection they are placed, and also to the blessed 
sacrament at the same time. In all communities of 
convent there is a caste, and this is seen and felt in the 
degrees of sisterhood, viz : professed choristers, pro- 
fessed lay-sisters, novices and postulants. A postu- 
lant is one who enters for a trial of six months, she 
wears the ordinary clothes of the world, generally a 
black suit, and assists in all work of the house, for 
which she may be capable. If, at the end of six 
months both parties are satisfied, she then enters the 
novitiate. The difference between a Choir and lay- 
sister is this : the Choir-sisters are those that are 
educated and enabled thereby to teach, superintend or 
or take part in the church exercise and singing ; while 
the lay-sisters are the manual labor-class, who do all 
that kind of work, because they are not educated to a. 
degree, to fit them for a higher. There are professed 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 15a 

sisters in both of these classes, as '' Professed :" means 
they have made the solemn vow to remain in the Con- 
vent through life. 

A novice, is one who is still to have a term of trial^ 
and has as yet taken only the second vow, at which 
time she discards the world's clothes and dons that of 
the order, with the white veil, v/hich she wears until 
she completes the novitiate or returns to the world. 
In some communities, the term is two years, in others 
but one. When this has expired, the applicant then 
makes her third and last vow, and takes the black veil. 

I saw this done in several instances, and will give 
the ceremony to my readers. The evening before she 
makes the third vow, she goes to confession, and makes 
a general one ; that is, she confesses all the sins of 
her life, as far as she is able, after days of meditation 
to remember them, and if she should have thought of 
a sin during the night, or committed one, either venial 
or mortal, she enters the confessional in the morning 
before mass and confesses them. Then she listens to 
the mass till the part, where communion is given, and 
receives it before the vow is taken. After mass, she is 
assisted to lie down in a coffin, where she is covered 
over as if dead, and the choir-sisters chant prayers 
together, with the attending priests over her, she re- 
sponding to them from the coffin. When these are 
through, she arises from the coffin or grave, and i..; 
handed the black veil, which she kisses and puts on, 
receives the blessings of the priests present, and kneels 
to listen to a discourse on the merits of a secluded life* 
After the morning performances, there is generally a 



154 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

great feast, given in honor of the Saint, whose name 
she takes in the new resurrection, as it is caLed. In 
her leaving the world for time, and devoting her life 
to the church, whatever she may possess, of Avorldly 
goods and fortune, she gives during the ceremony, to 
the church, and takes a solemn vow to have nothing of 
her own, not even a pin, from that time till death ; 
also, to be obedient in every particular, and in the 
most trifling, as well as most weighty matters, to those 
who may be in position over her. Their food is very 
plain, and taken at regular times ; never between meals 
is a mouthful allowed to be eaten, unless ordered by a 
physician, and no sister is free to receive presents from 
any one. If such should be taken, they are to be 
given by her to the Superior of the convent, to do 
what may seem best to her with them. 

On entering the third degree, which is the perpetual 
vow of obedience to the particular order, in which she 
is entered, she bequeathes all that she possesses : Soul, 
body, life, effort, money, land, personal property, will, 
talent, to the Catholic Church, and its interests forever. 
This is a powerful source of influence and revenue, the 
extent of which the world has very little knowledge. 
One that has all the elements of success in it : reli- 
gious zeal, worldly treasure, home and personal com- 
fort, all is embraced in the life of a nun. So far as my 
personal observation goes, their lives are as perfect as 
the superstitions and religion, they embrace, will allow. 
Indeed, it is my opinion, that they are the most per- 
fect of any within the whole Catholic Church. To say 
that all are so, would be saying more than I am justi- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 155 

fied in doing. They are the most zealous, as well as 
superstitious, in regard to the traditions held by the 
church, believing in them as firmly as protestants do 
in the Bible ; hence, there is found in all convents, 
statues, pictures of saints and relics, which tradition 
has handed down as being noted for the curing of 
diseases; for deliverance from temptations, of differ- 
ent kinds ; for grace of perseverance, etc., etc. ; and 
the time is divided in prayer to them. 

They sleep in dormitories, each in a single bed or 
pallet, or sometimes divided into cells, running along a 
corridor. If the hour for rising is four o'clock, a bell 
is rung by one appointed for that purpose, when all 
utter, as with one voice : ^' Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give 
to you my heart.'' ''Hail, Mary, full of grace, the 
Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus; Holy 
Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and in 
the hour of our death : Amen.'^ 

While they repeat this prayer, they arise, proceed 
to dress, kissing each article they put on, and repeating 
a short prayer appropriate ; then each goes to her 
especial work, or attends mass at five o'clock, also at 
seven, at the close of which, breakfast is taken, after 
which the regular duties of the day are entered into. It 
does not matter what these duties mav be, no hour 
passes Avithout the bell being rung for prayers, when 
every one stops, crosses herself, and repeats the ''Hail 
Mary,'^ with some other short prayer, to some other 
Saint, either for the living or the dead. In convent, 
the inmates confess once a week, at least, some every 



156 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

other day. It has always been a subject of wonder-., 
inent what they found to confess so often, and if it 
Avould be necessary for them in their secluded life, to 
confess so often, in order to secure salvation, what 
ivould become of the secular people, who only con- 
fessed once a month, a year, or once in several years, 
and are still numbered among the faithful. The object 
the church has in requiring those of her members, who 
are least exposed to tempations, (from outward appear- 
ance, at least), to confess so often, and that, too, to a 
confessor, who shall be of the secular priests, is to 
comply with a rule required since the year 1571. I 
once asked a nun, " why two or three hours each week 
Avas necessary to tell a confessor, that she had not 
wished, nor indeed been able to commit a sin during 
the time of her cloisteral life, what then become of the 
poor people of the world, subjected to so much more 
temptation, than a recluse V She replied : " that it 
was the custom of the world to make a confession of 
only a few moment's length, and at long intervals ; 
but we not only confess our smallest venial sins, but 
we intend, beside, that our confessor, the person in 
vyhom we confide, and whom we have chosen for that 
purpose, should direct us in all the duties of our daily 
life. We confide to him our thoughts, our cares, our 
business, and our purposes, he being our sole priest, 
our only mediator between us and heaven ; we confide 
our whole being in his care." Truly, nuns are feeble, 
defenseless instrumentalities, in the hands of priest- 
craft, and under the control of ecclesiastical rules, 
willing to trust their leaders to the utmost, and carry- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 157 

ing out the designs of their spiritual fathers, for the 
prosperity of their religion. " Roman Sisterhood," 
especially, is -' The Financial, Educational, and Prose- 
lyting Force," either in a direct or indirect way, in 
that religious community, and without female convents 
and their great usefulness, I venture to say, that 
church would have crumbled into dust long ago. 
Woman, feeble as she may be, controls the hearts of 
Iter sex, and directs in their path the youths of her 
Tace. That nun may have no will of her own, nor 
education to such a high degree, that entitles her to 
independence, and yet, in her strict and devout con- 
Tentical obedience, she is an appropriate tool in the 
hands of her skillful master. She is a blind, uncon- 
scious and devout tool to clergy and popery. As the 
<;atholic mother multiplies her church, by a natural 
propagation, so that conventical nun increases its 
membership by a spiritual adoption, which she seci^res 
in her educational devotion. Convents are propaga- 
ting Institutions, to which short-sighted protestants 
furnish subjects. It is a significant fact, that Ameri- 
<;an convents are largely patronized by protestants, 
and could not be sustained without them. Jesuistic 
contrivance uses all means within its reach to entice 
the daughters of influential and wealthy protestants, 
into their proselyting schools. And w^hen once there, 
it is the rarest among the rare events, to find one such 
child return home, free from their power of prosely- 
tism. This is a known fact, to all who have given any 
attention to this subject. 

During my pastorate in Goshen, from 1860 to 



158 SIJT YEARS A PRIEST 



1866, I enrolled the names of seven young ladies, who 
had attended catholic convents for educational purpo- 
ses. All were Americans, and I noticed that they were 
not only catholics by faith, but also by practice. You 
are familiar with Rome's ancient History, and conse- 
quently know, that under the salutary regulations of 
Romulus, great numbers of men from the small toAvns 
around Rome, flocked to the city, and every day it in- 
creased in power and extent. The most important 
event, under the administration of Romulus, was the 
rape of Sabine virgins, for the purpose of propagating 
that ne^v Kingdom. So Catholic convent^s commit rape 
upon young American ladies every day, in order to 
romanize this country by and by. Among many in- 
stances of the kind I know ofj I will relate one or two. 
Some years ago it occurred, that a Jew of New 
Orleans, had one daughter, who had conceived a fond- 
ness for a gentleman, who was a gentile, and had mar- 
ried him clandestinely. After a short time, the father, 
finding out that the couple was really married, secretly, 
and by force, took the daughter from New Orleans and 
brought her to a convent in Cincinnati, asking that she 
should be kept entirely secluded, giving his reasons. 
They received the young lady, and at once began to 
weave their net about her. Giving her all attention and 
kindness in every possible manner, and by every act, 
introducing the Catholic religion, until at the end of six 
months, she stood before the altar to be baptized in the 
church. The fact, of which was kept from her father, 
although when he came to see her, shortly afterwards, 
she promised him to have nothing more to do with her 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 159 

husbandj but to forsake him now and forever, and 
asked, that he should bestow upon her a sum of money 
for her own support, that she might continue to live 
separate from home and him. This was done^ and 
when I last visited the convent, the same young lady 
was a novice, soon to be received as a professed sister 
into the order. The exact sum, which her father, who 
was a very rich Jew, bestowed upon her, I could never 
learn, but I am inclined to believe, from intimations I 
received, that it was not less than fifteen thousand 
dollars. This is an example of their fidelity, little 
caring whether the father had a choice between a Gen- 
tile, as a Gentile, or a Gentile as a Catholic ; so they 
added but another member to their fold, and gained 
the money, she could bring. 

Having left the Roman Catholic Church, in 1866, 1 
moved to Quincy, Illinois, and resided on Main street^ 
between Third and Fourth, w^hen I received a letter 
from our neiofhbor, which I handed to mv wife, for the 
purpose of informing Rev. J. G. White, of Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, (the Author of '' Startling Facts or 
Deeds of Darkness Disclosed.'^) He intended to write 
a book on Romanism at that time. Mrs. W. wrote to 
Prof. White the following letter, and enclosed the one 
I handed to her. 

These two letters may speak for themselves, and 

reveal the truth to the world, in such a manner as it 

really is. : — 

" Quincy, June 24, 1867. 

J. G. White, — Dear Sir: The enclosed letter is 
from a young lady, who went to the convent at Belle- 

11 



160 5/X YjEARS a PRIEST; 

villGj one year ago, to attend school. She is an or- 
phan ; has a considerable fortune ; also has Mr. R., of 
this city, as guardian. She was engaged to be mar- 
ried, when she started for the school, but wished to be 
tetter prepared to mingle in the accomplished society, 
which her marriage would introduce. And this is the 
end to which she is brought in this short time. I wish 
jou would publish this in your '^ Protestant Mission- 
ary," and perhaps it would keep some other Protestant 
girl from going, There are few strong enough to 
i\'ithstand their power, when once under their care. 

Yours, Respectfully, 

RUTHM. W." 

"Belleville, June 13, 1867 
Mrs. J. — Bear Friend: You have not the slight- 
est idea of the extraordinary pleasure that I derived 
from yours of May 15th. I should have written ere 
this, but I wished to give you a decided answer as to 
wdiether I could come home or not. With inexpressi- 
ble joy would I accept your kind invitation, if it were 
possible, but the sad news came this morning, that I 
cannot. 0, what a smart to my heart ! What a cloud 
hangs over my life, when I think that I shall never, no 
never — more behold you, my dear and cherished friend ! 
I had flattered myself with the vain hope, that I 
should see you once more ; vain hopes ! they sadly 
deluded me. I shall soon part with all that is dear. 
I am to be received into the Trappist order. I will 
give you a slight idea of the life I shall hereafter lead. 
We never appear outside the walls ;^ never smile; 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 161 

never speak, only when very necessary ; sleep in a 
coffin, and each day dig a small portion of our own 
grave ; practice all kinds of penance and fastings-. Our 
food is bread and water, chiefly with herb soup. No 
flesh eaten. 

" 0, what a contrast ! I often compare it with the 
past, and can hardly believe it true — sometimes im- 
agine it a dream ; but no, it is reality. The world no 
longer affords me pleasure. No doubt, you will think 
me strange ; perhaps crazy. I am not, yet. Let 
thoughts be as strange as they may, they cannot ex- 
ceed mine. I have one request to make. I pray, I 
beg of 3^ou, to never efface me from your memory. 0, 
what a consolation will it be to me, in my lonely clois- 
ter, to know, that you, my dearest friend, will think of 
me, when all others have forgotten me ! I look upon 
you as my consoling angel. Oft in my solitude will I 
think of you. I shall never forget your dear features. 
No doubt, I have hitherto displeased and offended you, 
but I implore your forgiveness. Ere long, you may 
look upon me as one dead ; for so I shall be to the gay 
and gaudy world. I believe I have written quite 
enough for the present. 

^'Please remember me, to , and accept my 

love for yourself. I am, as ever, your loving 

MOLLIE.^' 

I appealed to the guardian of this orphan lady, to 
rescue her, and he pursued immediately such a course, 
that she was released from her conventical imprison- 
ment in a few days afterwards, and arrived at Quincy 



162 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

to meet her friends, who were anxiously waiting for 
her. She has been married about seven years, and is 
now the mother of a happy family. 

That persons, particularly sisters, who desired to 
leave convents, have been detained in. them, is affirm- 
ed by many reliable authorities, and is generally 
believed. The case of Miss E. O'Grorman should here 
be noticed. 

She came from Ireland to America, in 1850, being 
eight years of age, joined in October, 1862, the 
Sisters of Charity, entering the Elisabeth convent, 
Madison, N. J. On July 25, 1864, she was installed as 
mother of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, at Paterson, 
N. J. January 31, 1868, she left the convent, because 
a priest at Hudson City, N. J., where she was sent by 
her mother Superior, to establish the new convent 
there, at St. Joseph's church, had fallen in love with 
her, and attempted in the church to violate her person. 
After this violence, she had an intense abhorrence, 
both of priests and convents, and petitioned the mother 
superior unsuccessfully to remove her from the place 
of danger to her soul, but not being heard, left finally 
on her own accord, the convent life. Her book, 
" Convent Life Unveiled," gives the particulars of her 
trials and experiences during the six years of her 
being a Sister of Charity, of the spy-system among 
the nuns ; of their cruelty to orphans, and to one an- 
other ; their eating of worms ; their living death and 
not infrequent insanity ; their incessant and reputed- 
ly — meritorious warfare against all, that is sympathetic 
and kindly, and humane, which harmonize with many 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 163 

Other authentic statements regarding convent life o£ 
nuns, especially with the " Mysteries of the Neapoli- 
tan Convents," by Henrietta Caracciolo, commonly 
called the '- Italian Nun.'^ Dr. De Sanctis, who, for 
many years, occupied a high oflScial position at Rome, 
alludes to some cases of notorious immorality, and 
says : '' They go without necessary food ; they wear 
hair-cloth, when nature demands restoratives, they 
refuse themselves remedies, Avhich would arrest disease, 
and this from false modesty, which forbids the commu- 
nicating of their ailments to the physician. Many 
have I known to die of such procedure. You will call 
these nuns poor victims of delusion ; the world will call 
them mad ; but in the dictionary of the convent they 
.are termed : " Holy martyrs of sacred modesty." 

I must confess, sometimes the doctrines, discipline 
and practices, are in direct contradiction in the Catho- 
lic Church, to the command : " TJiou slialt not killf^ 
and its general design is this : '' To direct us in what 
Tegards the preservation and protection of our own 
and neighbor's life and person, both as to soul and 
body." This commandment forbids all actions, that 
may have any (even remote tendency) to destroy life 
unjustly, and even the affections of the soul, that have 
Buch a tendency." It is a Catholic doctrine, that 
murder is a most grievous crime, one of the four sins 
that cry to heaven for vengeance ; that suicide or self- 
murder is also forbidden by this commandment : " Thou 
-shalt not kill ;" that all acts, that cause murder, are 
forbidden, viz : " Uncharitable disputes, contentions, 
istrifes, — quarreling, — fighting, — anger, — revenge. 



164 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

— envy, — ^hatred, and the like ; even wilful exposures 
to dangers ; as running, jumping, intemperate eating, 
drinking ; abstaining from necessary food, etc. These 
actions are remote causes of destroying life unjustly, 
and therefore sin. These are the teachings of the 
Catholic Church, and yet she calls in her monastic dis- 
cipline for more fasting, niore torture, and more self- 
denial, than even the strongest nature is able to endure ; 
and when her youths, only twenty years of age, die 
under the vigorous observances of convent life, then 
she canonizes them, and in this act places them before 
others to imitate their suicidal example. 

In some convents, the rigor of discipline treads 
under foot the most sacred laws of nature. Dr. De 
Sanctis speaks of the convent of the ^^ Vive Seplote,'' 
(buried alive), as follows; "When a youth, I resided 
in the neighborhood of this convent, and I remember 
that one day the pope, Leo XII, made an unexpected 
visit to the institution. It excited much curiosity in 
the quarter, to know the occasion of the visit. Cir- 
cumstances were these : " A woman had an only 
daughter, who had taken the veil in that convent. 
Left a widow, she came often to the institution, and 
with a mother's tears besought, that she might be al- 
lowed, if not to see, at least to hear the voice of her 
daughter. What request more just and more sacred,, 
from a mother ? But what is there of sacredness and 
justice, that fanaticism does not corrupt ? The daughter 
sent word by the confessor, to her mother, that if she 
did not cease to importune her, she would refuse ta 
speak to her, even on that day, (once a year), when she- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 165 

^ould be allowed to do so. That day, at length, ar- 
rived; the widowed mother was the first to present 
herself at the door of the convent, and she was told 
that she could not see her daughter. In despair, she 
asked: " Why ?" No answer. ^'^ Was she sick ?" No 
reply. " Was she dead ?" Not a word. The misera- 
ble mother conjectured that her daughter was dead^ 
She ran to the Superiors to obtain, at least, the 
privilege of seeing her corpse, but their hearts were 
of iron. She went to the pope : a mother's tears 
touched the breast of Leo XII, and he promised her, 
that on the following morning he would be at the con- 
vent, and ascertain the fact. He did so, unexpectedly 
to all. Those doors, which were accustomed to open 
only for the admittance of a fresh victim opened that 
day to the head of the church cf Rome. Seeing the 
wretched mother, who was the occasion of this visit^ 
he called her to him, and ordered her to follow him 
into the nunnery. The daughter, who, by an excess of 
barbarous fanaticism, thought to please Heaven by ^ 
violation of the holiest laws of nature, concealed her- 
self upon hearing that her mother had entered the con- 
vent. The pope called together, in a hall, the entire 
sisterhood, and commanded them to lift the veils from 
their faces. The mother's heart throbbed with vehe- 
mence ; she looked anxiously from face to face, once 
and again, but her daughter was not there. She 
believed now, that she was dead, and, with a piercing 
cry, fell down in a swoon. While she was reviving, 
the pope peremtorily asked the Mother Superior, 
" whether the daughter was dead or alive." She re- 



166 SIT YEARS A PRIEST; 

plied, at length, '' that she was yet living, but having 
vowed to God that she would eradicate every carnal 
affection from her breast ; she was unwilling even to see 
her mother again." It was not until the pope ordered 
her appearance, in virtue of the obedience due to him, 
and upon pain of mortal sin, that the nun came forth. 
This outrage upon human nature, which might have re- 
sulted in parricide, is denominated in the vocabulary 
of monasticism, '' virtue in heroic degree." Without 
monasteries, the beauty of young men and women 
would not live in prisons, inaccessible to parents, sis- 
ters, brothers, friends, acquaintances, and even govern- 
mental inspections ; yes, to every social communica- 
tion, and every voice of humanity. Many of the mo- 
nastic inmates, both men and women, carrying on a 
consumptive existence for a few years, descend prema- 
turely to the grave. I know of many, who were refused 
to see their parents or relatives, in their last illness, 
and not only that, but the corpses of the departed, if 
it should happen that their parents were protestants. 
Those, who have taken the vows, are instilled with 
prejudices against the world, which makes them believe 
that, outside of the convent walls, is only to be found 
perdition, misery, hell ; that recluses will be saved, 
because they are God's elect people ; but that of 
those, who live in the world, very few will be saved. 
The pious nun of a convent, in her prejudice, repeats 
to her young candidate the words of the poet : 

" Saved is she that from the world retires, 
And carries w^ith her w^hat the world admires ; 
A h, lost is he, that from his friends cannot part, 
To confide to convent's cells and God his heart." 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 167 

And those, who have taken the monastic vows, 
must never pass the threshold of the convents, if they 
do, the thunders of Rome will crush them, and the 
anger of heaven rest upon them. Poor, ignorant 
creatures believe it, and die with homesickness in de- 
spair, turning true dogma into superstition, and remote 
crime into real virtue. Sometimes protestant friends 
ask me: '^Do nuns live a virtuous life?" I answer, 
^' unless I am mistaken, as a general thing, they do." 

In 1862, an Irishman, about sixty-five years of age, 
who had been in a convent for one year, became my 
house-servant. Once, on asking him, '^ Avhat he 
thought of convent life," expressed himself thus : 
*' Father, the monks and brothers of the convent are 
wicked ; they smoke, they drink, they curse and swear 
like everything ; they are devils, but the nuns are good ; 
they pray, fast and sing, and live like Saints." 

Though I am not in love with monastic life, never- 
theless, if ever a violent hand should touch them, in- 
jure them, or blot their existence from memory, I would 
protest against it with all my might, in the name of a 
free " Republican^ ^ and "Christian" Government; in 
the name of humanity and tolerance, to abstain from 
violence, illegality, and from all acts, which are in 
dispute with the high standard of " American Civiliza- 
iionJ^ What we do, let us do in a legal way, in 
christian love, without a shadow of persecution, but in 
self-defense against fanatic aggressions, and the Lord 
i\^ill bless this protestant people, and these Bible evan- 
gelists of the New World. He is a God of Bible 
truth, of power, and of justice. 



CHAPTER XIIL 

" BANGER TO AMERICA FROM ROMAN CATHOLICISM/' 

From its historical standpoint — Introductory.^— The Term:' 
" catholicized^'' implies the v:hole conception of the danger^ 
— Will this prosperous Republic still stand in 1976 f — One 
foe is in her waij^ viz: Rome., {Papal Infallihilty and tin- 
dermining Jesuitism). — Their convents are suspended in- 
Continental Europe \ they are gathering in America. — Nu- 
merical force of Romanism in the United States. — Caste life 
of Roman Catholics. — It is the nature of Roman Catholics 
to ride., etc. 

TEN years ago, when I became calmly but decided- 
ly convinced, that conscience and duty required of 
me to abando^n the church of my fathers, in order to 
seek the religion of the Bible among protestants, I 
came to the conclusion, that I would never take part in 
controversy against popery ; not because I thought 
it would be Avrong, but it was because I could not 
bear the idea of attacking, publicly, the errors, super- 
stitions, and vices of mv religious mother. Then, and 
even now, in my protestant position, I love the cradle 
of my infancy ; the hallowed spot of my parent's- 
sacred bones ; in the centre of my heart I feel a high, 
esteem towards them, that neither clouds nor storms- 
can lessen; neither the towering waves of the wido 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. * 1G9 

Atlantic can interrupt, nor any power on earth will be 
able to corrupt. ^^ Father V "Mother !" Oh, hallow- 
ed and sweet names. My catholic parents are no 
more ; they have been resting in the cool grave for 
many years ; they are waiting, waiting for the general 
resurrection of all human mortality, and they will hear 
the voice of the great Captain of our salvation in the 
morning of the second creation ; " Arise, ye nations, 
arise, ye people ; arise, all ye, who fell asleep." I am 
striving, striving, to meet them at the gates of celes- 
tial bliss, where parting and division of opinions shall 
be no more ; Avhere we shall see Him no longer in a 
riddle, but face to face, just as he is. 

It has taken me ten long years, (and I acknowledge 
it frankly), to become a solid protestant, and sixteen to 
become a true American citizen. In this space of 
time, '^Foreigness" has been consumed into "Ameri- 
canism;" "Romanism," into "Protestantism;" and 
"Monarchical Principles," into "Republicanism." 

To-day, I am proud to belong to Father Washing- 
ton's happy family, on this broad continent of Ameri- 
can Independence, Fellow-citizens, I come also before 
you, as a witness of the power of Almighty God, a 
monument of his divine grace ; a truly converted 
protestant, thanking the Lord, the " Giver of all good 
gifts," for this blessing. Love to Protestantism, and 
duty to Patriotism, cause me to appear before the 
public. It is love and duty alone, and nothing else ! 
And the truth shall be told according to my best 
knowledge, experience, and ability. For truth always 
prevails. The elements of nature may change ; the 



ITO * SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

earth cease to turn on its axis ; the planets of heaven 
fail to run their courses, " Truth," however, will remain. 
'' It is immutable, like God himself, the origin of 
Yerity/' If, therefore, the Roman Catholic Church is 
true, or infallible, as the Vatican Council of 1870 
solemely declares, she has nothing to fear; she will 
stand in spite of all protestant attacks ; but if her sys- 
tematically organized dogmas, morals, discipline, philo- 
sophical theories and jesuistical institutions are false 
and untrue; traps to humanity and free governments, as 
they are, she w^ill fall a prey to modern progress, in 
spite of all her boasted unity, antiquity, immutability 
for eighteen centuries, and even her recent declaration 
of ''Papal Infallibility'^ will not prevent her final 
destruction. 

Providence seems to call upon me to enter into the 
field of controversy, and nothing shall prevent me 
from telling the truth, whether flattery or bribery, 
whether persecution or death. May my voice meet 
w^th the approbation of the American people, and all 
true and loyal citizens of the great Republic, (natives 
and foreigners), who embrace Protestantism, and also 
open the eyes of those w^ho live till this day, in the 
church of my fathers, in the Roman Catholic Church. 

Now, in calling your attention to the fact, that 
America is. in great danger of being catholicized, let 
us clearly understand, w^hat we are about to discuss. 
Exactness in statinor truth accordino; to the measure of 
our intelligence, is an indispensable condition of jus- 
tice, and of a preeminence to be heard. The term : 
'' catholicized," implies the whole conception of the 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 171 

danger. It means, there is great danger, that Ameri- 
ca will become a catholic countrj'- : in religious, philo- 
sophical, moral, fanatical, educational, social, political, 
monarchical, and many other respects, which a free 
people of a '^Republican Government would not read- 
ily accept. However, I do not propose to dwell sep- 
arately upon the various dangers that may arise to this 
country, from Romanisai, but I intend to investigate 
from what sources they come. According to my 
opinion, the reasons on this topic are either of a gen- 
eral or particular, external or internal character; 
they pertain either to the nature of Romanism, or to 
the peculiarity of Americanism, each of which may be 
submitted again to sub- divisions. There is a great 
danger to America from Roman Catholicism, first : 
from its historical; second, from its dogmatical ; third, 
from its superstitious and vicious standpoint. 

This is the one hundreth anniversary of the birth- 
day of our nation, or of the prosperous American Re- 
public. Citizens of the American Independence, to- 
day we exclaim from the utmost boundaries of the 
South, to the distant North, andfrom the shores of the 
East, to the plains of the unbounded West: ''The 
Union forever !" Washiagton has expired, and those 
men, who signed a hundred years ago, the Declaration 
of Independence, are no more ; but their grateful 
children and grandchildren, at the centennial celebra- 
tion, in Philadelphia, and in all the cities and villages 
of the world-renowned Republic of the United States, 
exclaim, sing and play, with a unanimous voice : " Fz- 
vat Unitas, Lihertas et Fraternitas^ inter Cives Rei- 



172 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

Puhlicae Americanae F^ "May Unity, Liberty, and 
Fraternity live among the citizens of the American 
Republic !" 

But, how Avill it be in a hundred years hence ; will 
the Union still exist in 1976 ? I wish to God, it would ; 
but I do not venture to assure you that it will. I see 
one obstacle in her way ; one foe, and a very powerful 
one, too. It is not only apolitical, but also a religious 
foe. Is it Buddhism ? No. All the Buddhists in the 
world would not be able to conquer one foot of her 
soil, or one iota of liberty from a '^ Free^ United Amer- 
ican People !^^ Nor even if the whole Pacific Coast 
should be overflowed with Chinamen. Is it Moham- 
medanism, with its three hundred millions of wor- 
shippers ? No ; for the fanatical power of the Koran 
is faint, and will never resume its former splendor and 
threatening conquest ! Is it the Russian church, with 
her seventy millions of Greek Catholics ? Neither 
she ! Russia, though a mighty and despotic power, 
does not meddle with the educational and religious 
affairs of independent nations. Is it Protestantism, 
the ruling religion in this country ? By no means ! 
for Protestantism will defend and support our Repub- 
lican government in the new country, as it has faith- 
fully done in the past, and will stand by it, even if all 
religions and nations should revolt against it. 

What church, then, upon earth, is hostile to Ameri- 
can liberty ? I am sorry to be compelled to answer ; 
it is the church in which I was born, at whose font I 
was baptised, and on whose bosom I was nourished and 
educated, and for which I labored till my thirty-sixth 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 173 

year of age, and even six of them in the holy priest- 
hood. It is the Roman Catholic Church. A body of 
two hundred millions throughout the world, (as catho- 
lic statistics have it). She is a strong opponent, a 
dangerous enemy, a secretly undermining power to 
Republicanism. Not her laity, not even her secular 
ministry, but it is the monastic Jesuitism, its power, 
its government, and its intriguing proclamation of 
'^ Papal Infallibility." The '' Jesuistic Order'^ was 
established by a Spanish prince, Loyola, about four 
hundred years ago, and has spread over all Europe and 
America, and during the last century controlled, in a 
secret manner, the civil and religious affairs in the 
domain of the Roman Catholic Church. The nature 
and tendency of this Order is said to have been from 
its very beginning : '' artifice," '' deceit," '' hypocrisy," 
^'learning" and '^experience" in deceptive practices, to 
effect their purpose. They dictate secret plans, and 
meddle with governmental affairs, annoying nations 
and their rulers. The majority of the secular pries t- 
liood think that Jesuitism is a btirden to the church, 
and will prove to be an obstacle in the way of its pro- 
gress, submitting, reluctantly, to the government of 
such contrivers ; but Pius the IX pronounces them the 
leroes of the church, in our present age, and subjects 
seculars and laymen, to the Jesuistic system of policy 
in all respects. Their convents are suspended in Con- 
tinental Europe, and they seek refuge by hundreds 
and thousands in this land of liberty. Where the 
-shepherds are, there the flocks will gather also ; and 
where the flocks gather, there the public mind will 



in SIX TEARS A PRIEST; 

gradually become reconciled to their folds, and, no 
doubt, the American lamb will leap o'er the fence with 
case, into the Roman fold at last, compelled by neces- 
sity. The numerical strength of the Roman Catholic 
Church in this country, is increasing very fast. It is 
Baid, that the first catholic priest arrived in 1634, and 
read his first mass, March 23, in the same year. 
During the first two centuries, the catholic population 
has been increasing very slowly. From the year 1800 
it has increased gradually ; from 1850, very rapidly, 
and especially since 1870. 

Census of the Roman Catholic Church, of the 
United States, as gathered from their own accounts : 
Catholic Directories, Periodicals, etc., from 1850 to 
1876. 

PROPERTY. 

1850. 1860. 1870. 1876. 

$11,343,975, $38,566,324, $60,985,560. $96,786,653. 

MEMBERSHIP (aDULTS AND INFANTS). 
1,763,545. 2,876,632. 4,986,781. 6,895,640. 

CHURCH EDIFICES. 
1,673. 3,125. 5,345. 8,105. 

HIERARCHY BISHOPS AND ARCHBISHOPS. 

45. 53. 64. 71. 

, PRIESTS AND MONKS. 
1,561. 3,211. 4,645. 6,841. 

It is said, that during the summer of 1875, from 
eight hundred to one thousand monks arrived, the 
most of whom belong to the Jesuistic order. In the 
Roman Catholic Church is just as much Caste, as in 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 175 

any of the heathen religions, with the only diflference, 
that they abandon, more or less, their caste-life in 
protestant countries, (just as circumstances demand it) 
until they have gained sufficient power, to live and deal 
among themselves. It is only a matter of policy or 
necessity, when catholics deal with protestants in this 
country. Besides, wherever they have the majority, 
be it in the city or country, there they will rule, in 
church and State, and woe to him who opposes them ; 
revenge, persecution, death, will be his lot. Wherever 
catholics are in majority, there they endeavor to seize 
the reins of the government. '' All other christian 
bodies,'' says the great English Statesman, Gladstone, 
" are content with freedom in their own religious do- 
main. Orientals, Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyte- 
rians, Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, one and 
all, in the present day, contentedly and thankfully ac- 
cept the benefits of civil order ; never pretend that 
the State is not his own master ; make no religious 
claims to temporal possessions or advantages, and 
consequently never are in perilous collision with the 
State. "- Nay more, even so, I believe it is w^ith the 
mass of Roman Catholics individually. But not so 
with the leaders of their church, or Avith those who 
take pride in the following of leaders." "Indeed, 
this has been made matter of boast :'' 

"There is not another Church so called (than the 
Roman ) nor any community professing to be a Church, 
which does not submit, or obey, or hold its peace, 
when civil governors of the world command.'' The 



12 



176 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

"-' Present Crisis of the Holy See/' by H. E. Manning, 
D. D., London, 1861: p. 75. 

Every one, who has been trained in the Jesuistic 
Schools of Romanism, during its nineteenth century, 
is quite familiar Avith such a boast, on part of the 
Papal Church. For the Jesuits, in their Lectures and 
Historical Works, treating on the tendency of the 
church in civil affairs, and on the necessity of the 
^' Temporal Power'' of His Holiness, take special pains 
to show, that the Papal Government, at all times, has 
considered it as one of its most important duties, to 
protect the nations of the earth against the civil en- 
croachment of despotic rulers, sneering at the plenary 
obedience of the protestant clergy, to their State au- 
thorities, and calling them freely, cowards, and sub- 
missive flatterers. Indeed, to govern is one of the 
characteristics of popery, and to control the States of 
the christian nations is the mission of the Jesuistic 
Order in Europe and America. It is in the Power 
;and Nature of the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff, 
that, wherever the Roman Church is established, there 
dt cannot remain long without annoying the State. I 
give you an extract here, that you may be able to judge 
for yourselves : 

'^ Potto ex supTema ilia Romani Pontificis potestate 
guheTnaiidi univeTsam Ecdesiam jus eidem esse consequi- 
iuT^ in liujus sui muneris exeTcitio lihere communicandi 
cum pastoTthus et gregihus totius Ecclesiae^ ut iidem ah 
ipso in via salutis doceTi ac regi possint. Quare damna- 
(nius ac repTohamus illoTum sententias, qui hanc supremi 
capitis cura pastoribus et gregihus communicationem licite 



0^'E DECADE A PROTESTANT. 177 

impediri posse dicunt^ aut eandem reddunt saeculari po- 
testetati ohnoxiam^ ita ut coiitendant quae ah Apostalica 
Seda vel ejus auctoritate ad regimen Ecclesiae constitunu- 
iur^ vim ac valorem non habere, nisi potestalis saecularis 
placito confirmentur, 

'^ Datum Romae, in puhliea Sessione in Vaticana 
Basilica solemniter celehrata, anno Incarnationis Domi- 
nicaemillesimo, octingentesimo septuagesimOj die decima 
octava Julii, Pcn'ijicatus Nostri anno vigesimo quijitoJ' 
" Further, from this supreme power of the Roman 
Pontiff of governing the universal Church, it follows, 
that he has the right of free communication with the 
]3astors of the whole church, and with their flocks, that 
these may be taught and ruled by him in the way of 
salvation. Wherefore, we condemn and reject the 
opinions of those who say that the communication be- 
tween this supreme head and the pastors and their 
flocks, can lawfully be obstructed, or who make the 
same subject to a secular power, so as to contend that 
whatever is done by the Apostolic See, or by its au- 
thority, for the government of the church, can not 
have force or value, unless it be confirmed by the as- 
sent of the secular power. 

^' Given at Rome, in public session, solemi>ly held 
in the Vatican Basilica, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and seventy, on the eighteenth 
day of July, in the twenty-fifth year of our Pon- 
tificate." 

By a practice for more than fifty years, Jesuitism 
is exceedingly Avell versed to lay snares and traps for 
civil authorities, and for this very fact, the suspension 



178 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

of Jesuistic Convents, and even the banishment of 
their inmates, became an urgent demand in European 
countries. We can not forbear to acknowledge that 
popery had'skillful counsellors in contrivance, but un- 
successful in carrying out their secret plans. And 
■where is that protestant citizen in the United States 
of North America, who would be willing to trust in a 
society of men, that lay at the feet of the Pope, the 
following oath: — 

" I, A. B., now in the presence of Almighty God, 
the blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael, the 
Archangel, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy 
apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the Saints and 
sacred host of heaven, and to you my ghostly father 
to declare from my heart, without mental reservation, 

that his Holiness, Pope , is Christ's Vicar General, 

and is the true and only Head of the Catholic or uni- 
versal church upon earth ; and that by the virtue of 
the keys of binding and loosing, given to his H'^linesSy 
by my Saviour, Jesus Christ, he had power to depose 
heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and 
governments, all being illegal without his sacred con- 
firmation, and that they may safely be destroyed : 
therefore, to the utmost of my power, I shall, and will 
defend this doctrine and his Holiness' rights and 
customs, against all usurpers of the heretical authority 
whatsoever ; especially against the now pretended au- 
thority and Church of England, and all adherents, in' 
regard that they and she be usurpal and heretical oppo- 
sing the sacred mother Church of Rome. I do re- 
nounce and disown any allegiance as due to any 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 179 

heretical king, prince, or State, named Protestants, or 
obedience to any of their inferior magistrates or offi- 
cers. I do further declare, that the doctrine of the 
Church of England, the Calvanists, Huguenots, and of 
others of the name Protestants, to be damnable, and 
they themselves are damned, that will not forsake the 
same. I do further declare, that I Avill help, assist, 
and advise, all or any of his Holiness' agents, in any 
place wherever I may be : in England, Scotland, and 
Ireland, or in any other territory or kingdom, in which 
I shall reside, and do my utmost to extirpate the heret- 
ical doctrine of Protestants, and to destroy all their 
pretended poAvers, kingly or otherwise. I do further 
promise and declare, that, notwithstanding I am dis- 
pensed with, to assume any religion heretical, for the 
propagating of the mother Church's interest, to keep 
secret and private all her agent's counsels, from time 
time, as they entrust me, and not to disclose, directly 
or indirectly, by w^ord, writing, or circumstance, w^hat- 
soever, but to execute all that shall be proposed, given 
in charge, or discovered unto me, by you my ghostly 
father, or any of this sacred convent. All which I, 
A. B., do swear by the blessed Trinity and blessed 
Sacrament which I am now to receive, to perform, and 
on my part to keep inviolably ; and do call all the 
heavenly and glorious host of heaven to witness these 
my real intentions, to keep this my oath. In testimony 
hereof, I take this most holy and blessed Sacrament of 
the Eucharist; and witness the same further with my 
hand and seal, in the face of this holy convent, 
this day of , Ann. Dom. &c." 



180 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

How can protestants trust in a Grand Highpriest, 
who requires of his clergy such an oath ? How can 
they put their reliance in those, who promise faithfully,, 
that they will keep it inviolably ? If American prot- 
estants, who are very peaceably disposed, and inclined 
to practice christian tolerance to other denominations, 
w^ould trust readily in popery and its leaders, what 
would be the result of it ? They would be soon en- 
tangled in a net of a thousand papal snares, extended 
to them by Jesuistic spies, under the pretence of 
religious integrity and true friendship. Protestants, 
I must insist upon your reading, first the history of 
bloody wars, cruel inquisitions, fanatical persecutions,, 
and facts undeniable during all ages, which originated, 
from the instigation of papal intolerance. The history 
of the past ; the history of modern times, and even 
historical realities of our present days, revolt against 
papal trustworthiness. We propose to give some in- 
stances of pernicious influence, exercised by popish 
priests, over the minds of their deluded followers, as 
to that influence, principally, is to be attributed the 
sanguinary and ferocious persecutions carried on by 
Papists against Protestants, and again in our days es- 
pecially against those, who thought it best to abandon 
the catholic community. Although these ferocious 
persecutions are principally a work of dark ages, how- 
ever, in selecting these instances, we need notconflnc;^ 
ourselves to the ancient times. The character of the 
Romish clergy is, and always has been, the same;, 
proud, insolent, overbearing, Avhere they have gained, 
the power ; hypocritical, insiduous and cunning, where 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 181 

they have it yet to gain. So they afford an object of 
well-founded jealousy to every government and nation, 
their influence being alike inimical to the people and 
the civil authority. For it is a fact, that while they hold 
the former in ignorance and slavery, they allow the 
latter only to retain the appearance of the former, and 
are ready to strip it, even of that, the very moment, in 
which a public ruler should dare to dispute their com- 
mands. Of this, my assertion, the following histori- 
cal facts afford ample proof. 

My readers, I suppose, are familiar Avith the 
excommunication of Henry IV, Emperor of Germany" 
in the eleventh century. When Pope Gregory VII 
excommunicated him and caused a rebellion in the em- 
pire against him, bigotry had so far extinguished 
reason and natural affection in the empress Agnes, his 
mother, and his nearest relations, that they joined the 
party of the haughty pontiff, to deprive her son, a 
just ruler, of his throne ; and for this purpose they 
contributed money, levied troops, and, alas, accom- 
plished their design. Through the influence of the 
Catholic priesthood, John Huss was burned at Con- 
stance, in direct violation of the Emperor s protection;- 
and Luther would have met the same fate at Worms-,, 
had it not been for the firmness of Charles A^, who pro- 
tected him. At the instance of the clergy, Louis XIV 
was induced to banish the Protestants from France, 
which materially injured the kingdom. 

Strong men and feeble women have been used by 
the Romish clergy, to accomplish the intolerant designs 
of Popery. It is a fact, that Queen Mary gave her 



182 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

subjects the strongest assurances, that she would per- 
mit them to pursue any such religion as their conscience 
should dictate : and yet, when firmly established on her 
throne, she permitted the burning of the protestant 
subjects in her domain, instigated, no doubt, by Ro- 
mish spies. 

James II gave the most solemn assurances, that he 
would maintain the established government in church 
and state, and yet, under the advice and influence of 
the Jesuits, in direct violation of his oath, which he 
had publicly sworn on his accession to the throne, he 
immediately began to pursue arbitrary measures, and 
to subvert the Protestant religion. The people of 
England, at an early period, were so convinced of the 
great and dangerous influence of Jesuits and priests, 
on the moral and political principles of their sovereigns, 
that the privy-council, in the reign of Richard II, or- 
dered his confessor, in the King's presence, not to 
enter the court but on the four grand festivals. 
Wherever popery gained power, there the catholic 
monarchs, I find, were led by their spiritual advisers 
to violate their oath and honor, which they had sworn 
in favor of religious tolerance. Protestants, of the 
American Republic, awake ! dispatch all religious in- 
difi'erence from your borders, to prevent a catholic 
majority in your country, and at your ballot-box ; if 
you fail, you will be a deluded people. When the em-^ 
peror and the Roman Catholic princes of Germany, 
concluded the peace of Westphalia, in the year 1648, 
with the Protestant princes, after a bloody Avar of 
thirty years, they mutually bound each other to its 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT 183 

observance, by a solemn oath, the Roman Papal Infal- 
libility published a bull, declaring it to be null and 
Toid, as no oath could hind any of Ids members to heretics ! 
In a Decrete of Gregory 11, Ave read the following 
words : '^ Those Avho are bound by any compact, QioW' 
ever strongly confirmed^) to persons manifestly fallen 
in heresy, shall know, they are absolved from the duty 
of fidelity and homage, and all obedience !" 

Again the pope nullifies the treaty of Utrech, in 
i^hich it was agreed between the emperor, and Louis 
XIV, of France, that the Protestants of Grermany 
should enjoy the same privileges, which had been 
granted to them by the treaty of Westphalia ; waiting 
to the monarch an epistle, in which he declared the 
treaty to be null and void, though it had been ratified 
and secured by an oath. This epistle is found among 
the manuscripts of Clement XI, vol. II : p. 189. 
Again, in 1641, Cardinal* Pamfilio, by the Holy 
Father's Orders, wrote to Rinuncini, his nuncio in 
Ireland, that the " Holy See never would, by any pos- 
itive act, approve the civil allegiance, which Catholics 
pay to an heretical prince,'' 

We might easily multiply these examples, but we 
refrain from a task, both tedious and unnecessary, for 
in the course of this volume our readers meet an Ex- 
hibition, w^hicli, though briefly, yet fully explains the 
character of Popery. '' Who has ears to hear, let him 
tear." That eloquent Spanish orator, Castelar, de- 
clared recently, in the presence of the Roman prelates, 
in the Spanish Cortes : '^ There is not a single pro- 
gressive principle, w^hich has not been cursed by the 



184 SIX TEARS A PRIEST; 

Catholic church. Not a constitution has been born^. 
not a single progress made, not a solitary reform ef- 
fected, which has not been nurtured under the terrible 
anathemas of the Church.'^ 

^'The Rome of the Middle Ages/' says the En- 
glish Lord, Gladstone, " claimed universal monarchy. 
The modern Church of Rome has abandoned nothing,, 
retracted nothing. Is that all ? Far from it. By 
condemning, (as will be seen), those, who like Bishop 
Doyle, in 1826, charge the mediaeval Popes with ag- 
gression, she unconditionally, even if covertly main- 
tains, w^hat the mediaeval Popes maintained. But even 
this is not the worst. The worst, by far, is, that 
w^hereas, in the national Churches and communities of 
the Middle Ages, there was a brisk, vigorous and con- 
stant opposition to these outrageous claims — an oppo- 
sition, which stoutly asserted its own orthodoxy, whick 
always caused itself to be respected, and Avhich even 
sometimes gained the upper hand, now, in this nine- 
teenth century of ours, and Avhile it is growing old, 
this same opposition has been put out of court, and 
judicially extinguished Avithin the Papal Church, by 
the recent decrees of the Vatican. And it is impossi- 
ble for persons accepting those decrees justly to com- 
plain, when such documents are subjected in good faith 
to a strict examination, as respects their compatibility 
with civil right and the obedience of subjects." 

It has always been my principle, (and justice re- 
quires it of every man), to give to every one his own. 
" Suum CuiqueJ^ Since I have been a citizen of 
America, I have kept a watchful eye on the contest. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, . 185 

between Church and State, which is carried on in Eu- 
ropean countries, and particularly in the German 
empire, my native home. I kept for years French^ 
Italian, and German newspapers, almost solely for the 
purpose of observing ecclesiastical and political move- 
ments in these States. I must confess, although I 
admire and love that great German Statesman, yet, at 
first, I could not agree with the execution of his reli- 
gious plans in all instances, and this for two reasons ; 
fearing, that his boldness Avould unavoidably brii;ig a 
a great difficulty upon the new Empire, and judging^ 
that on one hand he was too severe, and on the other^, 
unjust to ancient ecclesiastical catholic rights in Ger- 
many. As in regard to the difficulties, that will arise 
from this change, which the Roman Church undergoes, 
in relation to the State in Continental Europe, I am 
fully convinced, that it cannot be brought to pass with- 
out final serious consequences, and individually I am 
looking for nothing else but a bloody battle-field in the 
whole of Europe ; for the Universal History of the 
past is my guide in this matter ; but as in regard to 
the injustice, I came, after a careful study, to the logi- 
cal conclusion, that the wise and circumspect Bismark^ 
of the German Imperial Government, is not committing 
illegal acts to the clergy, but proposing to protect the 
State against Jesuistic policy and fatal arrogance. I 
refer you to the language of the intrepid Garibaldi, to 
which he gives utterance in respect to the Prussian 
Bismark : " This is the great and illustrious man, to 
whom the Avorld is indebted for those noble moral 
battles, which more than the material ones will hurl to 



18J SIJC YEARS A PRIEST; 

<lust, the sacerdotal hydra of falsehood.'^ Whom has 
Garibaldi in view ? He calls the Jesuits and the 
entire catholic priesthood the sacerdotal hydra of 
falsehood. Garibaldi is still a professor of catholic 
religion; he lives in Italy; in the country of Papal 
Jesuitism ; knows all about the circumstances, and his 
words, therefore, must be to all unprejudiced minds, of 
a \\\^\\ value. The si2:nification of " Sacerdotal 
Hydra,'^ which Garibaldi employs to brand the Roman 
priesthood, may, at first view, appear to be a hyperbole 
(an expression of exaggeration), and yet I am more 
and more satisfied, that it is a fair representation of the 
truth. Hydra is said to be a monstrous serpent in the 
lake of Lerna, in Peloponnesius, which is represented 
as having many heads, one of which, being cut ofi", 
was immediately succeeded by the growth of another, 
unless the wound was cauterized. Mythology tell us, 
that this water monster, though just as slippery as an 
eel, was slain by the ancient Hero, Hercules. Now-a- 
days, '' Hydra," signifies a multifarious evil, an evil of 
many sources of action. There is not a greater evil 
to a free country, than the growth of Jesuitism and 
Romanism, and I assure you, that it Avill require a 
Herculean power, to keep this double monster from 
harmful deeds in the American Republic. The enemy, 
protestant citizens of the United States, is before you. 
Papal infallibility, in all its perfections, Je'suitism, 
w^ith its religious ardor and zeal, its scientifically and 
skillfully arranged Government, in school and church, 
and State, extends already its seizing power upon the 
reins of our Republican Institutions, and endeavors to 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 18T 

fortify its dominion in your midst. And with the es- 
tablishment of a Jesuistic Catholic Government in this 
country, the Republic soon will decay, die, be carried 
to the grave, and on its resting-place will be erected an 
iron monument of European monarchical government. 

Catholicism is evidently declining in Europe, but 
just as it declines there, so it Avill increase here, pro- 
portionally. Who will deny it ? 

Cast your eyes at Europe, turn over the pages of 
the volumes of Catholic history for twelve hundred 
years and nc^ore, and you may convince yourself at 
once, that I do not need any other Avitness, because 
''History" repeats its story in new countries and na- 
tions in the same form, perhaps in a little more culti- 
vated and modern manner. 

No doubt, the Catholic Religion is declining in the 
old country, and has been since the Reformation, and 
will decline, until it Avill be extinguished on the Euro- 
pean continent. History shows, how this Religion 
wandered from the cradle of its infancy, which stands 
in Palestine, through Asia Minor, Arabia, Turkey and 
Russia. Arabia and Turkey, w^ith their millions of 
inhabitants, embraced, more than a thousand years ago, 
Mohammedanism, and adhere until this day to the 
Moslem. Russia, with her sixty millions of Greek 
catholics, separated from the Roman Church nine 
hundred years ago. Sweden and Scotland, Denmark 
and England, Holland, and two-thirds of Germany, 
became gradually evangelized after the successful 
Reformation, which took place in our German father- 
land, from 1515 to 1582, and these countries count 



188 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

after only three hundred years, a protestant member- 
ship of seventy millions. It has taken Rome eighteen 
hundred years to secure a membership of two hundred 
millions of Roman Catholics throughout the world ; 
and to lose from five to six hundred millions of Trini- 
tarians, Anti-trinitarians, Trians, Mohophysites, Wal- 
densians, Albigensians, Armenians, Syrians, Nesto- 
rians, Greeks, Protestants, Heretics, and Schismatics, 
in the same time, how long w^ill it take her, according 
to all probability, to lose the remainder of eight hun- 
dred millions in Asia and Europe. And when protest- 
antism secured eighty millions in three and a half 
centuries, under all possible disadvantages, persecu- 
tions and inquisitions, how soon will they be able to 
double that number in European countries, under 
present advantages, protections, and sectarian united 
efforts ? I leave it to the honest judgment of my in- 
telligent readers. Protestants, you see, I deal in 
, arithmetical numbers, for the purpose of securing a 
mathematical result. The problem is easily to be 
solved. 

Austria and Italy, France and Spain, the fortifica- 
tions of Romanism until this day, even lose rapidly, 
its power. And the day will come, that Catholicism 
Avill have accomplished its mission in European coun- 
tries. ''It is a historical fact, and the history of the 
w^orld shall be our common judge." I reccoUect very 
well these words, which Wiens, a renowned Historian, 
in Germany, uttered in our class-room twenty-five 
years ago ; " In Moscow's flames, catholic Europe, 
no doubt, will find its grave ! If Napoleon, the Great, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 189 

could have succeeded in overthrowing the Russian 
empire, these two strong religious powers, the Greek 
and Roman Churches, would have united again in 
^One Catholic Cri^d^ and Protestatism would have been 
compelled to succumb. But now, continued the great 
historical prophet, the day Avill come, and may come 
soon, that the Catholic Church will be banished from, 
^ continental EuroDC, and either seek her refuo:e in the 
-catacombs of Egypt, or erect her glory in the midst of 
the fertile plains of the Western Continent, discovered 
l^y Columbus, of catholic Spain." Catholics claim 
America, because a catholic discovered it. However, 
very few of our catholic friends admit the decline of 
their church in Europe, but we as protestants see it. 
They say, the church is at present persecuted, and 
Tier solemn rights are trampled under feet of the 
Protestants . the time of her redemption will come ; 
she will flourish again and is destined to devour prot- 
estantism in the end. Catholics firmly believe, that 
they will become again masters of the situation. It 
is evident to me, that popery loses ground in Europe 
'every day, but protestantism gains territory fast, and 
in a short time, the catholic church will not be able to 
Tecover from the losses, which she has to sustain in her 
old domain. I am sure, you must watch there the op- 
portunity of regaining your lost game, otherwise the 
protestants, cunning foxes, (as they are in science and 
progress) Avill jump all over European countries, and 
the sportsmen of inquisitions becoming every day less, 
may lose them out of their sight. Besides your own 
members, since the proclamation of papal infallibility, 



190 SIA^ YEARS A PRIEST; 

bring confusion into your faltering ranks. But we- 
understand, that our Roman Catholic friends ridicule 
the movement of 'Doellinger, the great German, and 
of pater Hyacinth, the illustrious Frenchman, or the 
old catholic party, calling it a handful of fools. 

In the early part of 1870, I received two letters 
^.from former catholic friends, who are priests, inviting 
me to return to the Roman Catholic Church, and say- 
ing : '^ that the old catholic party is a handful of fools,, 
nothing else ; and protestantism an affrontive enemy 
of the old Roman Catholic Church, and expressing 
sincerely their regrets, that I am serving in the ranks 
of sworn foes. Rome sneered at that handful of Lu- 
therans, three hundred years ago, but that handful of 
heretics ridiculed in the beginning, grcAV to a mighty 
and organized body of eighty millions in a short period 
of three centuries. And protestantism, according to 
all probabilities, will number a hundred and forty mil- 
lions, in fifty years hence. ' A handful of good seed,, 
sown into cultivated ground, may soon yield a whole 
bushel. And on the other hand, a bushel of good 
wheat, carried in an old bag containing apertures,, 
will soon lose its contents in small quantities.'^ Such 
may be properly applied to the church of Rome. She 
has fulfilled her mission in the old country. But 
catholics flatter themselves, that they will be able to 
recover the losses, which they suff'ered in Europe since 
Luther, even by the edge of the sword. Ah, vain 
hopes ! You forgot,, that Austrian bravery was put te 
flight and shame in 1866, on the summits of the Bohe- 
mian mountains, by the military skill of Prussiaa 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 191 

arms. Again, the cannons of protestant Prussia^ 
roared, and catholic France succumbed ; Sedan surren- 
dered, and the imperial crown of the mighty Napoleon 
crumbled into dust. I am of the opinion, that catholic 
bravery is no longer of that mediaeval type, and venture- 
to say, that just as the religion of a people is declin- 
ing, so its bravery also is bound to decline in the same 
measure. As Protestantism, in European countries^ 
excels Catholicism in science, art, literature, and 
poetry, so it surpasses in executive abilities, military 
tactics and heroic deeds in the same manner. The 
time has arrived, that the Roman Catholic Church seeks 
for protection in the New World. And, as her power 
is gradually decreasing in the Old World, so it will 
increase in America, according to all the probabilities 
and criterions of universal history. I repeat this 
sentence purposely and emphatically. Rome is evi- 
dently marching to America. 

The first historical period of the American people* 
has been drawing to a close since our last war ; since 
the discovery of this country, the trees of the forest 
have fallen before the strokes of the sharp steel ; the 
industrious foreigner is reaping the fruits of his culti- 
vated plans, and the rich merchant inhabits flourishing 
cities and villages. Now the second era is at hand^ 
the classical period, or that of science and art, learning 
and literature, and with it the age of political and 
religious strifes. Other nations have completed a 
large portion of their missions assigned to them by 
Providence, but America is comparatively a new 
country ; it just commences to live ; it just begins to 

13 



192 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Tun its course of achievement. It is the land of the 
destinies of nations, the rendezvous of all races, the 
institution of all languages, and the temple of all 
religions. America is still in a new and unsettled con- 
'dition, and great things Avill come to pass upon Ameri- 
can soil in this new era. Americans ! fix your aim 
:high in the literary sky ! Here is the land, where the 
/civil rights of nations will battle ; the land where mo- 
inarchical principles will wrestle with republican liberty ; 
liere is the soil, where Catholicism and Protestantism 
•^will struggle in deadly blows ; the country, where 
christian fidelity will contest with modern infidelity, 
and where denominational Christianity will agree at 
last, and unite inseparably in religious fraternity. 
America, unless signs and forerunners of the age de- 
-ceive us, has arrived at the eve of the greatest events 
in her National History. We observe, by a close 
examination, in studying the history of the world, 
that each century is divided intD two periods ; into that 
of peace and war, each embracing a length of time 
from forty to fifty years. We find that the nations of 
the world, particularly throughout the christian era, 
enjoyed half a century of an universal peace, and were 
engaged in Avarfare, one with another, for about the 
.«ame length of time. We observe, also, that great 
political evolutions have been followed by the most im- 
portant religious emotions, or the reverse of it. Since 
1848, the nations of Europe have been engaged in 
bloody wars ; (in Italy, Austria, France, Germany and 
Spain), and in the last ten years they are fighting on 
the religious battle-field, or rather preparing the intro- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 193 

ductory for it. In America, the anti-slavery war, the 
greatest event in our American History, has ended, 
and our country, we cannot forbear to predict, is 
•drawing nearer to a great religious war. If any one 
<3an point me out a single spot or nation, on the wide 
globe, where Romanism has established itself without 
j&nal bloodshed, I should be inclined to withdraw my 
assertion, for I abhor war, and its sorrowful conse- 
quences ; but since all historical consultation on this 
subject will be in vain, I must insist upon the citizens 
of this grand Republic, that they prepare for such an 
€vent. Yet, we hope and pray, that arguments and 
convictions may finally settle the controversies and 
differences between Catholicism and protestantism, in a 
peaceable manner. However, we are prepared to 
show, that since the battles, which were fought by 
Washington, the father of American Independence, 
against British intruders, there was never a stronger 
demand, upon the people of the American Republic, 
than now, to guard their interests by a vigilance that 
cannot be lulled to sleep. When facts, undeniable re- 
Teal our foes, it is not safe to neglect these facts. It 
is of the utmost importance for the American people 
to watch. . Let us read and hear without wearying the 
xevelations concerning Roman Catholicism, which are 
now manifesting themselves in Europe and America, and 
resist its mysterious march from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. Read the newspapers of our age, and day by 
day you will find in their columns, that ten, twenty, 
fifty, and even a hundred of some religious order ar- 
rived at New- York, Baltimore, or Nqw Orleans, and 



194 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

intend to domicile at Quincy, St. Louis, Chicago, or 
Cincinnati. Monks and nuns, school- brothers, and 
sisters of charity, Dominicans and Jesuits are driven 
from their convents, in Germany and Italy, and mi- 
grate in flocks and herds to our land of liberty. They 
are scattering all over the country^ erecting their con- 
vents and schools, building their temples and high 
cathedrals, planting their congregations and communi- 
ties, and I tell you, candidly, protestant citizens of 
the United States, there is great danger, that your 
country will be catholicized 



CEAPTEB XIV. 

THE FRUITFUL SEED OF ROMANISM IS SOWN, 

And they are still sowing and importing^ every day^ more and 
more^ and you will see that seed yielding a proper crop in 
due season. — Almost twenty years ago Catholic^ and even 
Protestant Historians in Europe predicted., that America 
will he a OathoUc country one day, and learned priests 
and Bishops are of the same opinion. 

JOHN GEO. MILLER, Bishop of Minster, Westpha- 
lia, invited some ten students to his residence. 
It Avas in the year 1859. I Avas among them. He 
addressed us in this language : 

"3fi/ dear Sirs: You have completed your course 
of study. You all are physically well developed, but 
Germany can spare you, for all professions are filled 
here with men of learning. Go to America, the land 
of religious ignorance and protestant infidelity ; it 
needs your services in the holy priesthood. Go to 
that wide field of our catholic mission work, and if 
your parents should attempt to change your decision, 
which you have taken for Christ, and his holy religion 
upon earth, tell them, what Peter, " the Hermit,^' of 
Armiens, the enthusiastic leader of the crusades said : 
■" The Lord wills it ;" " The Lord wills it !" My 
young friends, determine now ; God is calling upon 
you ! Go and save precious souls from ruin, and pre- 



196 SIX YEARS A PRIEST 



pare them for immortal life. America will be ours^ 
but we need laborers ; we need missionaries in that 
country. You know, that Archbishop Purcell, of 
Cincinnati, on his way from Rome, to America, passed 
through our borders last year, and he besought us to 
send him young priests ; and that, also. Bishop 
Tucker, of Alton, Illinois, called on us six weeks ago, 
and assured us, that entire America would be ours in 
less than one hundred years hence : ' Infidelity would 
cease, catholic fidelity reign, but send us laborers in_ 
our vineyards ; now is the accepted time !' Such were 
the words of the Bishop. ' And how is it in England ? 
Princes and English Lords leave their State Church 
to return to the bosom of their fathers, to live and die 
in the holy Catholic Church, which alone can save men 
from eternal perdition.'^ 

Americans, do you understand this language of 
Catholic bishops, eighteen years ago ? Their language, 
I think, was plain enough at that time, and to-day it 
is still plainer. Catholic journals, in Europe, use this, 
lano-uao-e: "We must make haste, the moments are 
precious. America soon will become the centre of 
civilization, and shall we suffer, that error there estab- 
lisheth its empire ? If the Protestants are before us, 
it will be difiicult to destroy their influence. And for 
this reason America will be overwhelmed with Catholic 
missionaries. I am under the impression, that hun- 
dreds and thousands of them are residing in our con- 
vents, without having yet appeared on the records of" 
active laborers, and this is an act of prudence and 
Jesuistic policy.'^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 191 

The object of the Roman Catholic leaders is ta^ 
gain a balance of political power, and establish Ro^ 
manism by law. Brov/nsonj a convert, to the Roman- 
Catholic faith, in this country, and with whose literary^ 
character we are acquainted, admits the fact and states,. 
that it is their purpose to possess this country, saying:: 
"Heretofore, we have taken our politics from one or- 
another of the parties, which divide the country, and. 
have suffered the enemies of our religion to impost' 
their political doctrines uppn us ; but it is time for us. 
to teach the country itself, those moral and political 
doctrines, which flow from the teachings of our own 
church. We are at home here, w^herever we may have' 
been born ; this is our country, as it is to become 
thoroughly Catholic ; we have a deeper interest in. 
public affairs, than any other of our citizens. The 
sects are only for days, the church forever." (Brown- 
sons Review). Mr. Brownson, the champion of 
Romanism, says, in another place, as follows : "But 
would you have this country under the authority/ 
of the Pope ? Why not ? But the Pope would take- 
away our free institutions ! But, how do you know 
that ? From what do you infer it ? After all, do you- 
not commit a slight blunder ? Are your free institu- 
tions infallible ? Are they founded on divine right ?.' 
This you deny. Is not the proper question for you to^ 
discuss, then, not w^hether the Papacy be or be not 
compatible with republican government, but whether it 
be or be not founded in divine right ? If the Papacy 
be founded in divine right, then your institutions 
should be made to harmonize with it, not it with your 



198 . SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

institutions. The real question then, is, not the com- 
patibility or incompatibility of the Catholic Church, 
^vith democratic institutions, but, is the Catholic 
Church, the Church of God ? Settle this question first. 
But, in point of fact, democracy is a mischievous 
dream, wherever the Catholic Church does not predom- 
inate, to inspire the people with reverence, and to 
teach and accustom them to obedience, to authority. 
The first lesson for all to learn, the last that should be 
forgotten, is to obey. You can have no government, 
w^here there is no obedience ; and obedience to law, as 
it is called, will not long be enforced, where the falli- 
bility of law is clearly seen and freely admitted. But 
is it the intention of the Pope to possess this country? 
Undoubtedly. In this intention, he is aided by the 
Jesuits and all the Catholic prelates and priests, un- 
doubtedly, if they are faithful to their religion. 

" That the policy of the Church is dreaded and op- 
posed, and must be dreaded and opposed by all Prot- 
estants, infidels, demagogues, tyrants, and oppressors, 
is also unquestionably true. Save, then, in the dis- 
charge of our civil duties, and in the ordinary business 
of life, there is, and can be, no harmony between 
Catholics and Protestants." 

And this is what Judge Haliburton, a Roman 
Catholic, in a pamphlet asserts, saying : "- All America 
w^ill be a Catholic country. The Roman Catholic 
Church bids fair to rise to importance in America. 
They gain constantly and very rapidly. They gain 
more by emigration, more by natural increase, in pro- 
portion to their numbers, more by inter-marriages^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 199 

adoptions and conversions, than Protestants. With 
their exclusive views of salvation and peculiar tenets, 
as soon as they have the majority, this becomes a 
catholic country, with a catholic government, with a 
Catholic relio:ion established bv law." 

The Duke of Richmond is reported to have said, 
in a speech at Montreal : ^'That the Government of 
ihe United States, ought not to stand, and it will not 
stand. But it will be destroyed by subversion, and not 
by conquest. The plan is this : to send over the pau- 
per population of Europe. They will go over with 
foreign views and feeling, and will form a heteroge- 
neous mass, and in course of time, will be prepared to 
rise and subvert the Government. 

" The Church of Rome has a design upon that 
•country. Popery will be, in time, the established reli- 
gion, and w^ill aid in the destruction of that Republic. 
I have conversed with many of the sovereigns and 
princes of Europe, and they have unanimously ex- 
pressed their opinion relative to the Government of 
the United States, and their determination to sub- 
Tertit." 

The great conflict has ^ commenced, twenty-five 
jears ago, and before we shall write the year 1900, it 
may have^nded in blood. There is a certain stillness 
prevailing in the Roman Catholic Church, all over the 
"world, but also a great bitterness against civil govern- 
ments, and the language used in their periodicals and 
pulpits, that they are a persecuted people everywhere, 
ivill increase the bitterness and hatred oi their mem- 
iDcrs, till that religious conglomeration of electric 



200 SI.Y YEARS A PRIEST; 

chaos bursts open in a general explosion. Oh, I wish 
to God, that my individual convictions, drawn from 
historical visions, would be mere illusions, indeed. I 
dread war, I abhor bloody religious strifes and fanati-^ 
cal persecutions. Ah, I hear, still, this horrible sound: 
'^ arise, ye citizens, come to sirmsl" I see, yet, w^ife 
and husband parting ; children clinging to the knees 
of their dear fathers ; I hear them yet, Aveeping and 
howling. I see yet the mother embracing her son, and 
the young warrior, who is about to part, kissing his^ 
beloved mother, and promising her, that he will trust 
in God, and fight for the restoration of the blessed 
union in his country. It is restored to the safety of 
the country, and to the great blessing of its people. 
Now : 

May tiie sacred friendship tie, between South and. 

North- -universal love and peace j^revail ; 
Harmonies in Church and State ne'er fail. 
This we pray, we beg to grant, Oh, gracious Lord ! 

But suppose harmony between Rome and Wash- 
ington should fail, as it is expected it will in the course 
of time. What then? Suppose Rome will subvert 
Washington, as it may ; what then ; what will become 
of American Liberty ? Read, Americans, l-ead ! The 
following extracts, quoted from the catholic press, 
itself, I wish and hope, may sufficiently enlighten your 
mind on this subject. Commence reading with Lafay- 
ette the great Benefactor of this country. It is said„ 
that the noble Frenchman, on his return to America^ 
uttered these words : 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 201 

'' If ever the Liherty of the United States will be 
destroyed, it will be by Romish priests." 

Although the poet sings of that Hero : 
'' Ce vicil ami que taut dHvr esse accueille^ 
Far un heros^ ce hcros adopte^ 
Bcnit jadis^ a sa j^reraiere feuille^ 
L'arbre naissant^ de notre liberie, 
Mais aujourd hui,^ que V arhre et son feuillage 
Bravent en paix la foudre et les hivres, 
II vient^ 5' asseoir sous sou fertile omhrageT 

" This old friend, whom so great enthusiasm welcomes^ 

This hero by a hero adopted, 

Forinerly blessed in its iirst leaves, 

The rising tree of our liberty. 

But to-day, when the tree and its foliage. 

Affront in peace the thunders and the storms, 

He comes to rest under its fertile umbrage." 

Lafayette himself feared and predicted that this 
free Govern.nent might be destroyed by priestcraft. 
Lafayette was a liberal catholic, and not a monarchist; 
or he would not have drawn his sword for American 
liberty. There are probably three millions of Romish 
priest in the world, and among them, I judge you Avill 
find only about five thousand liberals. What are these 
few among so many ? There are, indeed, few Haya- 
cinths, Gavazzis, Doelinger's, and Gerdeman's, com- 
paratively, to the large number of Catholic priests. 
Even in this free country, almost the entire Roman 
clergy are devotees of ultramontanism. You are 
surprised ? It is quite natural. The Roman Catholic 
Church has risen to her present power in the United 



202 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

States, in the course of forty years, and is a new 
Society, full of vigor and life, so rapidly increasing 
in number, that it is beyond the conception of those, 
who do not examine into the real fact, and their igno- 
rance of true circumstances in this matter, prohibits 
them from judging of the great dangers, by which 
our country is surrounded at this hour. From our 
own experience we know, how eagerly new societies 
pursue their courses in the beginning ; how they en- 
deavor to carry out every jot and tittle of their laws 
and by-laws; but then they relax, and their statues 
must be modeled and remodeled, and even new ones must 
be introduced. So it is with the Roman Catholic 
Church, as a society, in its relation to the American 
Hepublic. The greatest danger of this ultramontane 
Society to the Republic, lies in the first impulse of its 
power, vigor and energy, and in this period of its 
primary establishment, it will either subvert Protest- 
antism and Republicanism in the United States, or be 
compelled to submit to the dominion of Americanism. 
Our Republican Liberty, it is a fact, is in a dangerous 
position, and I will not conceal it from the public. Two 
enemies threaten and endanger our Republican Insti- 
tutions, a religious and political foe. Secession is not 
completely conquered ; it lurks only under a heap of 
ashes, and its sparks may cause a new fire, equal to 
the Chicago conflao-ration. Jesuistic UltranCiOntanism 
in this country lurks, too, and may accept any oppor- 
tunity, which will be offered for the accomplishment of 
its end. I venture to say, that it may abase itself 
thus far, as to join hands with the irreconcilable hatred 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 205 

of a few disloyal States, (or rather leading charaters 
in those States) at their first invitation, and this hazard 
is either found in the desire of taking revenge or 
gaining the upperhand in Church and State affairs. It 
is manifest to me, that this new era will have its trials 
and struggles in the beginning, and Roman antago- 
nism disquiet the beauty and comfort of the American 
Republic. Yet, I trust hopefully, that circumspection 
in our Legislative Halls, and patriotism in the hearts 
of the American people, may be able to prevent civil 
insurrections, the scourges of national prosperity, and 
that catholic fanatics may be unable to find a suitable 
junction for their religious ambition. In Brownson's 
Quarterly Review, for October, 1852, we read : 

" All the rights the sects have, or can have, are 
derived from the State, and rest on expediency. As 
they have in their character of sects, hostility to true 
religion and rights under the law of nature, or the 
law of God, they are neither wronged nor deprived of 
liberty, if the State refuses to grant them any right 
at all." 

And again Brownson says: "Protestantism of 
every form, has not, and never can have, any right 
where Catholicity is triumphant." 

The Boston Pilot, one of the leading organs in the 
Catholic Church, says : " No good Government can 
exist without religion, and there is no religion without 
Inquisition^ which is Avidely designed for the promo- 
tion of true faith." 

The New-York Tablet, as quoted in the " Christian: 
World," of July, 1867, has this view of religious lib- 



204 SIX YEARS A FETUS T; 

evtj : " The Catholic missionary has the right to 
freedom, because he goes clothed Avith the authority of 
God, and because he is sent by authority, that has 
from God the right to send him. To refuse to hear 
him, is to refuse to hear God, and to close a catholic 
church, is to shut up the house of God. The Catholic 
missionary is sent by the church, that has authority 
from God to send him ; the Protestant missionary is 
.sent by nobody, and can oblige nobody in the name of 
God and religion to hear him. Our Protestant friends 
should bear this in mind. They have, as protestants, 
no authority in religion, and count for nothing in the 
Church of God. They have, from God, no right of 
propagandism, and religious liberty is in no sense vio- 
lated, when the national authority, whether Catholic or 
Pagan, closes their mouths and places of worship. 
This is in full accordance with the practice of Rome.^^ 

" The Shepherd of the Valley,'' published at St. 
Louis, said, Nov. 23, 1851 : ''The church is of nec- 
essity intolerant. Heresy she endures, when and Avhere 
she must ; but she hates it, and directs all her energies 
to its destruction. If catholics ever gain numerical 
majority, religious freedom in this country is at an 
end." 

The " American and Foreign Christian Union," for 
March and September, 1852, and August, 1854, quoted 
from a catholic newspaper in England, the " Rambler," 
several sentiments of religious liberty. One of them 
may illustrate the catholic's standpoint on this subject 
in England : " No man has a right to choose his reli- 
gion. Catholicism is the most intolerant of creeds. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 205 

It is intolerance itself, for it is truth itselfo We might 
as rationally maintain, that a sane man has right to 
believe, that 2 and 2 do not make 4, as this theory of 
xeligious liberty. Its impiety is only equaled by its 
absurdity/' 

This language is plain, and ought to be sufficient 
to define the plans and purposes of Romanism in this 
^country. The Roman Catholic Religion is the embod- 
iment of ecclesiastical intolerance, but Protestantism 
is the reverse of it. It is the living embodiment of the 
great principles of civil and religious liberty, in con- 
formity to the principles of justice and the word of 
God. Protestantism recognizes civil and religious 
liberty as among the dearest of man's inalienable 
rights, inwrought in the constitution of man by the 
Divine Creator. And it cannot be denied, that Prot- 
estantism and a free democratic republic are mutually 
independent of each other, and yet harmonize, and 
^ach contributes to the strength and prosperity of the 
other, and that Catholicism is the reverse of all this. 
For the Roman sect regards the Church as supreme, 
and the authorities of the State subordinate to the dic- 
tation of ecclesiastical rulers, who govern by divine 
right. But these two systems are internally and ex- 
ternally antagonistic, and therefore, a fearful and final 
conflict between them seems to be inevitable. Who 
denies it, contradicts Roman History itself! For 
many centuries, Rome has been the hot-bed of civil 
wars, persecutions, inquisitions, and bloodshed, to 
those who would not submit to her civil and ecclesias- 
tical supremacy. The character of this Church is 



206 SIX YEARS A FRIEST ; 

dictatorial, and the tendency of her members is fanat- 
ical, and consequently dangerous. 

'' The Irish Journal" of New-York, emphatically 
says : " For every musket given to the State armory^ 
let three be purchased forthwith. Let independent 
companies be formed, thrice as numerous as the dis- 
banded corps — there are no arms acts here, yet, — and 
let every 'foreigner' be drilled and trained, and have 
his arms always ready. For you may be sure, that 
those, who begin by disarming you, mean to your 
mischief. Be careful not to truckle in the smallest 
particular to American prejudices. Yield not a single 
jot of your own ; for you have as good a right to your 
prejudices as they. Do not, by any means, suffer 
Gardner's Bible (the Protestant Bible) to be thrust 
down your throats." 

There is no reason or pretext for such treasonable 
language. Truly, it is an insult to American citizens 
and Protestants of all denominations. Catholics are 
in their laAvful rights, they are protected a3 other citi- 
zens, and if they were not, there is a remedy without 
resorting to arms under the instigation of an alien 
clergy. But here is the great trouble and danger, too,, 
with that sensitive and fanatic people, that, as soon a& 
you oppose their religion in any way, they declare 
w^ar or revenge against you; they call every word 
spoken, every act committed, every resolution passed, 
when it happens to strike against their religious sys- 
tems, persecution of their church, ignore freedom of 
speech, instigate, either directly or indirectly, mobs, 
or even prepare for murderous engagements, and then^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 207 

when summoned, in protestant countries, before courts- 
of Justice, dare to justify their cowardly acts by 
by stating, that they defended themselves against 
protestant aggressions upon catholic rights. Ameri- 
cans beware of Popery and Monkery ! 

Mexico suffered under Spanish rule, and was emi- 
nently a monastic State. Every other city was occu- 
pied with covents and churches, and some of the 
convents occupied, according to Abbe Domenech, 
historian of Maximilian's expedition, a large part of the 
city. NoAY look at the condition of the poor Mexi- 
cans : insurrections, revolutions, wars, murders, execu- 
tions and anarchies, followed one another in quick 
succession. Since 1833, Mexico has been the scene of 
constant bloodshed. The great Island of Cuba has 
been like Spain itself, and Mexico, a country of reli- 
gious intolerance, under the control of PapalJesuitism. 
It is the intention of the Catholic Hierarchy, in this 
country, to increase the monasteries as fast as circum- 
stances will allow it, and if possible, to do away with 
secular ministry all together in the end. This is what 

Bishop L. told me, in a confidential conversation^ 

thirteen years ago, at the time when he had dismissed 
or suspended, in the course of two years some six sec- 
ular priests from his Diocese, saying . ''That thus far, 
one-third of the secular priesthood had proved to be 
an entire failure in this country, and the Church was 
therefore forced to erect monasteries, in order to pre- 
vent scandal.'^ On my reply, " that I considered the 
monks, not any better than secular priests," he an- 
swered : '' That anyhow, living in four high walls, and 

14 



208 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

being kept under the strict monastic rules of obedience, 
they would be easier governed and kept from the So- 
ciety of the Avorld, and the sight of the public." 

In Canada, the Roman Catholic hierarchy has ex 
communicated legislators, who dared to vote in opposi- 
tion to their demands ; they informed the members of 
the Montreal Institute, that they Avould excommunicate 
them, if they did not exclude from their Library every 
volume objectionable to the priests, and from their 
reading-room, every anticritical newspaper ; and when, 
in 1870, Guibord, a member of the faculty, died, the 
priests refused him burial, except in a lot set apart for 
suicides, heretics, and schismatics. 

With the establishment of Romanism in this coun- 
try, American criticism must be abolished, or editors 
and authors will fill our State and County prisons, and 
€ven new ones may be erected, in order to fetter the 
free press of our free institutions. 

An American Protestant, who had been for some 
time travelling in Italy, wrote thus from Rome, 
August 13, 1850. 

''A man, who intends to write the truth about Ro- 
man affairs, must hold himself ready to be sent out of 
the country. Could you pass a month here in Rome, 
where every family is mourning for a member in prison 
or exile, and witness the terrors of popery, backed up 
by French tyranny, and see how the priests lord it 
over the land, your heart would bleed, for the poor 
Italians, and you would find all language too feeble to 
express your detestation of the baptized Pagans, which 
here crushes men's soul to the earth. 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 209 

In 1853, the French " L'Univers Religieux," a 
Koman Catholic newspaper in Paris, said : 

" France is a Catholic country ; the dissenters go 
for nothing. France ought to be governed according 
to the catholic rule ; the laws must be catholic/' 

The American and Foreign Christian Union report- 
ed, in 1857, as follows : '' Since 1849, thirty-three 
persons have been imprisoned or exiled, and above 
one hundred others have been harassed by the police 
for little else than reading the Bible." 

The Protestant Executive power of America, should 
.always keep in sight, that every stroke which Roman- 
ism directly commits against the overthrov/ of Prot- 
estantism in this country, is indirectly committed 
against the Government itself. Therefore, our Protest- 
ant Government would act wisely, to extend its hand 
fraternally to Protestant religion, vowing, that " united 
they will stand, united they will fall;'' joined they 
ivill fight, joined they Avill conquer. 

'' Concordia parvae res crescunt.^ 
Discordia maximae dilahunturr 

"By Concord small things grow^, 

By Discord the greatest become lov^," 

says Sallustius, the illustrious Roman historian. 
Rev. Wm. Clark, a protestant minister who had re- 
sorted to Italy since 1863, says in regard to the Bible: 
" The vast weight of the Papal power bears down 
with its oppressing and deadening influence upon all 
this beautiful land. Not a Bible can be sold, not a 
voice could be heard, preaching Christ on any part of 



210 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

the Italian soil. The punishment for such an offence 
was imprisonment or death. The few friends of the 
Redeemer, sometimes in caves, sometimes in woods,. 
Avere accustomed with fear and trembling, to meet to- 
gether and pray." 

W. J. Stillman, Esq., late U. S. Consul at Rome,, 
writes to the New- York Tribune, January 9, 1871 : — 

" I know, that spies were placed at the doors of 
the places of Protestant worship, to see if any Romans 
went in, and that one friend of mine, a surgeon in the 
Trench hospital, was arrested for having waited on his 
wife, (she was an English lady) and carried at night to 
the prison of the Holy Office (the Euphonic for 
persecution or inquisition), where he was menanced 
with severe punishment, if he not only did not abstain 
from courtesies to Protestantism, but compel his wife 
to leave the Anglican communion and enter the 
Roman ; and he finally escaped from them by an ap- 
peal to French protection, as an employee. 

" Another of my friends, Castelleni, the jeweler^ 
was under so severe police surveillance, that for several 
years he had not dared to walk in the street with any 
of his friends, and when his father died, the body was 
taken possession of by the police at the door of the 
house, the coffin surrounded by a detachment of offi- 
cials, carried to the church, and the next day buried,, 
all tokens of respect to the deceased being forbidden^ 
and all participation in the services by his friends. 
He and his sons were Liberals in opinion. 

'' The system of terrorism was such, that liberal 
Romans dared to meet only in public^ and never per- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 211 

mitted a stra/iger to approach them in conversation. 
I never dared enter the house of a Roman friend, for 
fear of bringing on him a domiciliary visit. I can 
conceive no system of torture worse, than this terrible 
espionage under Avhich every patriot Roman lay, fear- 
ful of his own breath; one scarcely daring to speak to 
another in tropes and innuendoes. They suffered the 
penalty of crime for the wish merely to be free. Had 
it not been for the system of counter espoinage, kept 
xip by the Roman Committee on the Government, no 
Liberal could have lived in Rome. When suspected, 
they generally had warning by their own spies. 

" The Roman Government, of my time, from 1861 
to 1865, was the embodiment of the spirit of the 
Papacy of the "Middle Ages,'\ It had its rod over its 
subjects, as it always has been done. If they would 
make any progress outside its walls, it Avas strong 
'enough to repress mercilessly all evidence of it within.'' 

Such is the characteristic history of Romanism in 
Europe for many centuries, until this day, and such 
will be the result of its education, intolerance, bigotry, 
hatred, to Protestant Christianity, of its fanatical in- 
stigations and secret conspiracies, wherever it is about 
to establish or has established its dominion. Since the 
Reformation, Catholic power has endeavored to restrain 
and conquer the Evangelical Church upon earth, by 
espionage, imprisonment, inquisition, persecution and 
torture, and with the progress of Romanism in this 
country, and its reestablishment in England, lam look- 
ing for nothing else. Rome's history of the past will 
repeat itself in all its principal parts. Americans, do 



212 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

you not see the introduction of this history, even in 
your free country, where precautions have been taken 
in cities and villages to protect religious freedom in 
speech and publication ? In spite of* your strong 
police forces and faithful guards, catholic riots will 
occur ; even now, where they are greatly in the mi- 
nority. Protestant lecturers, on confessional and 
other Roman Catholic peculiarities, have frequently 
been interrupted, insulted, maltreated, stoned, yes,. 
killed by Roman Catholics. 

An Irish Catholic mob attacked and broke up a 
public meeting in Quebec, in 1853, while Gavazzi wa& 
lecturing on Romanism. Colporteurs, engaged in cir- 
culating Bibles, religious books and tracts, have often 
been lawlessly beaten by Roman Catholics. 

Miss O'Gorman, who lectured in the Methodist 
Church in Madison, New Jersey, on the evenings of 
the 14th and 15th of November, 1869, on "Convent 
Life and the Romish Priesthood/' was frequently in- 
terrupted and otherwise disturbed; the mob afterwards 
surrounded the house where she was, threw stones till 
midnight, used abusive language, and dispersed about 
two o'clock ; but she was protected by a strong guard 
of citizens, constables, and students of the Drew The- 
ological Seminary. 

Professor White, of Jacksonville, Illinois, and my- 
self, in October, 1866, were surrounded by a furious 
catholic mob, of about three thousand men and wo- 
men, in Quincy, Illinois, threatening to kill us, and 
breaking the windows of the hall in which my friend 
had been lecturing on " Peter Den's and Bishop Ken- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 213 

ricks' Moral Theology/' till nine o'clock in the even- 
ing, and there is no telling what these fanatics, who 
believe that it is an acceptable sacrifice to God, to 
take the life of heretics, might have done, if it had not 
have been for the courage of the protestant citizens 
of that city, through whose assistance we escaped, 
about one o'clock, by way of a rear door, from the 
demolished hall. Rev. White had been speaking for 
two hours at the top of his voice, to make the rebel- 
lious catholic audience understand that he was deter- 
mined to protect freedom of speech, and ready to 
defend it, like a brave general, at any moment^ even 
at the risk of his own life, for the welfare of his coun- 
try. That is the right spirit ; a spirit which every 
Protestant Missionary should possess for the promo- 
tion and success of evangelical Christendom in the new 
world. Protestantism needs more heroes, more mar- 
tyrs, more persecution and more bloodshed before it 
will be permanently established on the Western conti- 
nent. In England and Germany, I think it is estab- 
lished forever ; for these two countries have been free- 
ly saturated with the blood of protestant martyrs. 
France, Spain and Italy will yield to evangelization, 
for the walls and basements of old Catholic Churches 
there, are yet filled with the skulls and bones of Lu- 
theran Evangelists slaughtered in the days of atrocious 
inquisitions. God is just, and assists the cause of the 
just; and if God is on our side, who will be against 
us ? I am not mistaken ; history is my guide. His- 
toria est Dux mortalium. In the Romish Church we 
must distinguish three periods, viz : 



214 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

1st. That of her integrity and martyrdom ; 

2d. That of her stagnancy and corruption; 

3d, That of her fanaticism and inquisition. 

In the epoch of her pure Christianity, or during her 
first six centuries, God was with his church, and there- 
fore she grew and prospered. 

In the second era, God bore with the introductions 
of the corruptions into the Church of Rome, her 
wickedness and immortality, and called her frequently 
to repentance, but refusing his calls of mercy, he in- 
spired that great Reformer to reform her, and denying 
also his authority, and fervent invitations of returning 
to the truth, the Lord abandoned her and erected his 
throne among the adorers of evangelical Bible truth. 
Since the Reformation, Rome is evidentlv in a declin- 
ing condition in the Old World. Protestant friends, 
in persecution, imprisonment, destruction of mission- 
ary lives or holy Bibles, we should, therefore, not find 
anything to discourage us in our religious cause ; on 
the other hand, everything to encourage us to send our 
laborers and co-laborers all over the world, for the 
promotion of God's Kingdom upon earth, and the es- 
tablishment of Bible religion everywhere. At the 
time of the Quincy riot, such an annoyance was quite 
a new thing to me, and I was ashamed of the miserable 
conduct of my former catholic friends, wondering, how 
it could be possible, and thinking, how their satanic 
cursing and swearing, their boisterous stoning and 
demolishing of property, their devilish threats and 
murderous cries, could add to the spreading out of 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 215 

catholicity among the enlightened American people. 
I tell you, Roman Catholics, you use the weakest of 
all weapons ; weapons, which Avill prove to be an obsta- 
cle in your course, and which may procure you a total 
failure, instead of a rapid succession in the New World, 
as your leaders anticipate. Remember, that knowledge 
is power, that controversy is stronger than persecution; 
that the pen is mightier than the sword, and that cath- 
olic riots are w^eaker than the progress of protestant 
science, Csttholics boast that their Church is built on 
a rock, but since Luther and Evangelical Christianty, 
that rock has evidently changed into quicksand. 

" Well, said Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D,, at the an- 
niversary of the .American and Foreign Christian 
Union, in 1853, that the Church of Rome is founded 
on a rock, indeed ; »ot on that on which Christ founded 
his Church, but the rock, on which that church is 
founded, is the denial of religious liberty. Wherever 
you can get a mob of Irishmen to break up a Sunday 
school, assail the children in the streets, there is the 
infallible, the immutable Church of Rome, the applica- 
tion of physical force, as pertaining to religion. 
Until last fall, w^hen I commenced lecturing on 
^' Romanism,^' I had not fully decided, whether all the 
religious riots, caused by Roman Catholics, in this 
country, were true or false, in their particulars ; but 
since then*, I learned, by personal experience, that ac- 
cording to my opinion they may be considered to be 
presented to the public Avithout any exaggeration. 
Though it has been my aim, to present the errors and 



216 Snr YEARS A PRIEST; 

superstitions of that church in an inoffensive language 
to Roman Catholics, who might probably attend my 
lectures, in order to win them over to the pure religion 
of Christ ; thus far I have not been able to escape the 
violence of the ignorant classes. Most everywhere, 
where I had announced a lecture on " Romanism,^' a 
riot was predicted by the protestant population of the 
village, on my arrival, and secret precautions had to 
be taken for my protection, and even if there were not 
more than half a dozen catholic families living in the 
place. Generally, the impression was prevailing in 
the community, that catholics from the vicinity would 
attend for the purpose of interfering with the lecture. 
In many instances, the better class or quiet minded 
catholics seemed to have used their influence for per- 
suading the protestants to stay* away. In Grafton,. 
Western Virginia, last fall, during my second lecture 
in the M. E. Church, pistols were fired off, and windows 
broken by violent hands, for the purpose of disturbing 
the audience and the lecturer. Next morning, when I 
offered the zealous minister of that congregation to 
pay him the damages done, he answered, surprisingly:: 
" why, dear sir, those windows have been broken for 
God's sake, and we offer them as a sacrifice to Him: 
you call again, and if the catholics see fit to break 
them all, they may do so, it shows their wicked dispo- 
sition, and they will not gain anything by such a vil- 
lainous conduct in this country." 

At Benwood, Western Virginia, where there is a 
large catholic population, the Trustees thought it best 
not to have the lecture delivered, fearing that the 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 21T 

catholics would demolish the church, and even endan- 
ger my life. I besought them to give me the privilege 
of using their pulpit, for delivering a lecture on 
'' Romanism ;" that I trusted fully in the Lord, and 
was not afraid of human violence ; but the reply fell,, 
granted, that I might escape the wrath of catholics ; 
the protestants saw beforehand, that there would be 
no living with them afterwards, as they had insulted 
previously, again and again, their pastor on the street, 
though being a very nice man in the pulpit, and in 
society also. I felt very sorry, that my wish could not 
be fulfilled and told them, how much I was pleased 
with the courage of that brave protestant at Grafton^ 
who arose during the disturbance in the audience, ex- 
claiming : " Sir, go on with your lecture, we protect 
you all with our lives.'' 

Last February, I was disturbed for two hours by a 
catholic mob at Palestine, Ohio, when fortunately, at 
last, the Lord poured on them a heavy shower of rain, 
so that they dispersed. From the depth of my soul I 
prayed unto Him, to pour down his heavenly dews of 
grace upon prejudiced catholics, that they might be 
converted to the light of the Gospel. 

A Roman Catholic, the noted Father, Ignatius, of 
England, used to say to Rev. Dr. Gumming : — 

''Sir, if the Church of Rome be not the Church of 
Christ, it is a master-piece of the Devil." 

As liberal protestant christians, we do not wish to 
use so strong an expression, but desire to repeat, that 
it is a corrupt, superstitious, immoral, and intolerant 
institution, and dangerous to American Liberty. 



•218 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

For such reasons, then, we join all true American, 
patriots in this solemn declaration : — 

They shall not have, they shall not have, these free 

beautiful lands. 
Against which they stretch their rebellious, treasonous 

hands !" 



CHAPTER Xr. 

BANGER TO AMERICA FROM ROMAN CATHOLICISM. 

From its Dogmatical standpoint — Infallihility at length — 
Its danger to monarchical governments^ and even to the 
American Republic — The danger is founded in the nature^ 
relation and practice of infallihility and other dogmas — 
Infallihility proclaimed under thunder and lightning — 
Interpretation of Catholics^ of Protestants — Falsehood of 
infallihility — Four opinions — Moral character of the 
Pope's against infallihility — Immorality of Councils — 
They patronized materialism — The Holy Spirit will not 
dwell in fathers filled with impurity — Infallihility impossi- 
hie — Catholic opposition to this dogm.a — Popery changed 
its position to civil Governments — Pronunciation of the 
casus helli^ etc. 

THE Roman Catholic Church, though a Christian 
body, is a religion of falsehood and truth, a hete- 
rogeneous composition of pure Christianity on one 
hand, and of blasphemous confusion on the other. 
Many of the doctrines of popery have been introduced 
in the course of time, and even several of them are of 
a very recent origin. They are not to be found in the 
Bible. They were not established at one and the same 
time, but at various periods, till at length thej were all 
embodied in the creed of *Pius the lYy in 1564. For 
a thousand years, the Church of Rome had been de- 
parting from the true faith, but it was not till the 



220 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Council of Trent, when the new era of confusion and 
Apostacy reached its climax, and not till the procla- 
mation of Papal Infallibility in the Vatican, on the 
18th day of July, 1870, when both disorder and de- 
parture from faith became complete. This dogma is a 
hlasphemous falsehood in itself, a malicious weapon in 
the despair, of a bloodless controversy, and a danger- 
ous game of hazard, not only to the monarchical 
constitutions in Europe, but also and particularly to the 
independent Union of the American people. It has 
also become clear in my mind, that the decrees of 
papal infallibility had the sole object of sanctioning a 
system practically called into life three hundred years 
ago ; declaring Jesuitism to be identical with Chris- 
tianity ; Romanism with Catholicism, and Ultramon- 
tanism with Christian policy, and giving to this whole 
system an immovable foundation, under the mask of 
divine revelation. The last ecumenical Council con- 
vened in the Vatican on the 8th day of December, 
1869, and closed on the 18th day of Julj^, 1870, when 
papal infallibility was pronounced. When the session 
opened, it was a dark and dismal day, with pouring 
rain, and when the session closed, it was still more 
dark and dismal, the rain poured down in torrents, 
thunders rolling and lightning flashing. Amid this 
lurid glare, the final vote was taken, and Pius stood up 
to make the result known, and proclaimed the decree, 
which he did in his potifical robes, and with his golden 
mitre on his head; but such^was the darkness, that he 
was obliged to read the formula by the light of the 
candle, which an attendant held. But higher than the 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 221 

thunder out of doors was the loud and long continued 
roar of applause, which rose from the assembled pre- 
lates, who shouted : " Viva Pio Nono^^^ Viva il Papa 
infallible !^^ This noticeable circumstance of thunder- 
ing and lightning, darkness and rain, catholics inter- 
pret thus : '^ That God's wrath descended from heaven 
upon the damnable doctrines of Protestantism, (the 
cause af all divisions, inquisitions and bloody persecu- 
tions, since the Reformation), in the proclamation of 
Papal Infallibility, announcing, that the time had ar- 
rived, that protestants should be destroyed from the 
face of the earth ; that God had borne with heretics as 
long as His mercy would permit him ; that under 
iihunder and lightning from the Sinaic Vatican, He 
ordered the Mosaic pontiff, of the New dispensation, 
to enforce His dictates in the promulgation of Roman 
Catholic Infallibility ; that his people and their leaders 
should prepare for a Modern crusade ; that the four 
papal powers in Europe were destined, by circumstances, 
to bear armed violence against Prussia and even Russia, 
and the entire Protestant North ; that bloody religious 
struggles were to take place at the close of this cen- 
tury ; that catholic and protestant nations would ex- 
tirpate one another ; but that the victory of the last 
■decisive battle would be on side of popery ; that a 
<3atholic soldier, sitting on a white horse, bearing a 
w^hite flag, and perfectly exhausted with wounds, 
. should pronounce the good tidings of peace on the 
Western plains of Prussia, exclaiming : " Victoria^ 
Victoria^ Roma vicit T^ that the proclaimer then would 



222 SI.Y YEARS A PRIEST; 

sink instantly to the ground lifeless, and the Millenium 
should commence at once. 

The consequences of such a belief, or such a fanatic 
superstition, however you may call it, I fear will 
cause war and bloodshed among European nations 
sooner than many may expect. I am not supersti- 
tious, at least I try not to be, and yet I cannot forbear 
to give the reasons for my opinion and well grounded 
fears. First of all, this belief is profoundly rooted in 
the hearts of the Roman Catholic people and clergy 
in Europe and America, and is particularly the theme 
of conversation and plan of instruction among cath- 
olics in Germany since the first French Revolution^ 
the masses do Ix-lieve it firmly and prepare for this- 
great religious event. In believing, they furnish the 
fuel for the great conflagration among ecclesiastical 
and civil, catholic and protestant nations of the earth; 
and priests, in their conversation with the laity, insti- 
gate a great evil thai; still might be prevented, if their 
desire would not be that it might come to pass. They 
think that Catholicism is still strong enough to meet- 
all eventualities, and therefore encourage, frequently^ 
such thoughts, as the surest means of their last refuge- 
in their declining position. '' VoxpopuU, vox Dei F^ and 
there is a great deal of truth in these four words. 
Great events in the history of humanity have always- 
been preceded by indicating messages and their pro- 
claiming forerunners. Let us think for a moment of 
our own last civil war, and of other recent occurrences,, 
and we dare not deny this assertion : These indica- 
tions for a religious civil struggle Avhich will come to- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 22a 

pass, are so clear and impressive that they cannot 
escape the observation of prudent and close investiga- 
tors. Previous and feverish agitations, both in the 
Old and New World, are so strong at present, that 
'they must effect a Catholic and protestant collision, 
delayed it may, but avoided it cannot. Protestants 
interpret, however, the thunder and lightning, that 
prevailed on the summit of the seven hills, in the 
"Eternal City'^ during the proclamation of Papal In- 
fallibility : " That God pronounced His great dis- 
pleasure upon Roman bigots and blind fanatics, what 
calamities and torrents of blood might befall the 
Church of Rome,'^ (if they would not cease) to mock 
Him and retire from the way of haughtiness and their 
numerous errors. Infallibility^ like many other dog- 
mas, has been introduced into the Catholic Church. It 
was not established as an article of faith till A. D.^ 
1076. But the Papal Episcopate could not agree 
about the seat of infallibility. Some place it in the 
pope, others in the general council lawfully called^ 
while others place it in the pope and a general council 
united ; and still another opinion is, that it rests in 
the whole body of the church. Some assert, that the 
pope is infallible in matters of faith, while others con- 
tend, that he is only infallible in matters of fact. 
Thus Papists differed on this fundamental point of 
popery for centuries, but now the question is settled^ 
the pope is elevated to the dignity of an infallible 
God; his absolute sovereignty is proclaimed; the con- 
sciences of his subjects are bound; non-catholics are 
condemned, and the civil power of nations has become 

15 



224 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

tibsolutely secondary to an irrevocably primary Po- 
tency invested in the Roman Vicegerent and his suc- 
cessors. The Jesuits, the counsellors of the pope, in 
general would extend infallibility, both to questions of 
right and fact. These patrons of absurdity, in their 
celebrated thesis of Clermont, acknowledged an uner- 
ring judge of controversy in both these respects : 
" Pap am non minus infallibilem in materia facti, vel 
juris esse quam fuerit Jesus ChristusJ^ Caron 60, 
Walch pag, 11. 

- '' The pope is not less infallible in matter of fact 
or of right, than Jesus Christ has been." 

This judge, according to the Jesuistical adulation, 
is the pope, who, seeing with the eye of the church 
and enlightened with divine illumination, is as the son 
of God, Avho imparts the infallibility, which he possess. 
lYliat a blasphemy ! I tremble with fear to write it 
down. John, Boniface, Alexander, Benedict, monsters 
of iniquity, were, according to this statement, inspired 
by God, and infallible as Christ, the founder of the 
Christian Church. The moral character of the popes 
proclaims a loud negation against their infallibility. 
Forty of these hierarchs degenerated for one hundred 
and fifty years from the integrity of their ancestors, 
and were " apostaticaV rather than " apostolical^^ 
Historians call them justly, monsters, thieves, robbers, 
assassins, magicians, murderers, barbarians and perju- 
rers. No less, than seventeen of God's vicars-gen- 
eral were guilty of perjury. 

" On ne voyait alors plus des Papes, mais des mon- 
MreSy^' " Baronius ecrit qu' alors Rome etait sans Pope ;'^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 225 

" They beheld, at that time, no longer popes, but 
monsters/' Baronius writes : ^^that Rome then \Yas 
without pope." 

John, the oriental vicar, declared perjury better 
than destruction of images. Indeed, John must have 
been an excellent moral philosopher, and christian di- 
vine, and a worthy member of an unerring council. 
When pope Innocent retired from the general council 
of Lyons, in which he had been presiding. Cardinal 
Hugo made a farewell speech for his holiness, and said : 
^' We have effected a work of great utility and charity 
in this city. When we came to Lyons, we found three 
or four brothels in it, and we have left at our departure 
only one ; but this extends, without interruption, from 
the eastern to the western gate of the city." The 
clergy, who should be the patrons of purity, seem, on 
this occasion, when attending the infallible council, to 
lave been the ao-ents of demoralization, throuf^jh the 
city in which they assembled. Baptiza, a member of 
the council in Constantinople, declares, "that the 
clergy were nearly all under the power of the devil, 
and mocked religion by external devotion and Phari- 
sean hypocrisy. The prelacy, incited only by malice, 
j)ride, ignorance, lasciviousness, avarice, pomp, simony, 
and dissimulation, had exterminated Catholicism and 
extinguished piety." According to Dachery's account, 
more than seven hundred public women attended the 
sacred council. Others speak about a number of 
female attendants of fifteen hundred, and call them 
Tagrant prostitutes. This was a fair supply for the 
thousand infallible fathers who constituted the Con- 



226 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

stantlne assembly: Their company, no doubt, contrib- 
uted to the entertainment of the learned divines, and 
introduced a great variety into their amusements. 
The councils of Nicea, Vienna, and the Lateran, pa- 
tronized the degrading doctrine of materialism. The 
angels of heaven and the souls of men, if the Nicsean 
doctors are to be credited, possess bodies, though of a 
refined, thin, subtile, and attenuated description. The 
souls and angels, the learned metaphysicians admitted, 
were composed of a substance, less gross, indeed, than 
the human flesh and nerve, and less firm than the 
human bone or sinews ; but nevertheless material, tan- 
gible and visible. The holy fathers of Vienna declared 
the soul not only of the same substance, but also 
essentially and in itself of the real and perfect form 
of the body. If this system is true, the rational and 
intellectual mind possesses a material and corporeal 
shape, having length, breadth, and thickness. This 
definition, the sacred councils issued, to teach all men 
the true faith of the Roman Catholic Church. This 
doctrine, according to the same authority, is Catholi- 
cism, and the contrary is heresy. The Lateran coun- 
cil, in its eighth session, declared : ^' that the human 
spirit, truly essentially, and in itself exists in the form 
of a human frame. Three universal councils in this 
manner, patronized the materialism, which was after- 
ward obtruded on the world by a Voltaire, a Hume^ 
and others." Indeed, Roman '' infallible" councils, in 
their human speculations, have been the source of 
materialism and scepticism, which is nourished to-day 
in the bosom of that church. The Romish communion^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 227 

during the six hundred years that preceded the Refor- 
mation, was as demoralized as the Roman Pontiffs and 
General Councils. 

According to the accounts of their own historians, 
papal communion, clergy and laity were sunken into 
the lowest depths of vice and abominations. Even the 
warmest partisans of the papacy, will show the truth 
and justice of this imputation. Even in the tenth 
century all virtue fled from its pontiffs and the people. 
In this century the Roman Church was filthy and de- 
formed, and the altars of impurity and abomination 
ivere erected in the temple of God. The twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries were similar in their morals, and 
have been described by Honorius, Morlaix, and Ber- 
hard. For piety and religion, were substituted fraud, 
Tapine, schism, wars, and assassinations. Popes, car- 
dinals, bishops and priests neglected God, and were 
stained with impurity, demoralizing their people with 
Tiypocrisy. The sixteenth century has been described 
T)y Antonius, when addressing the fathers and senators 
assembled at Trent, as being attended Avith public 
adultery, rape, rapine, exaction, ta,^:ation, oppression, 
drunkenness, gluttony, pomp of dress, expense and 
effusion of blood. The pastor without vigilance, the 
j)reacher w^ithout works, the law without subjection, 
the people without obedience, the monk without devo- 
rtion, the female without compassion, the young without 
discipline, and everyone without religion. Lord save 
America from a repetition of the middle ages, from 
a spirit of haughty infallibility and its immoral results. 
" The Holy Spirit," said Cardinal Mandruccio, in the 



228 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Council of Trent, " will not dwell in men who are 
vessels of impurity, and from such, therefore, no right 
judgment can be expected on questions of faith. '^ 
The idea, indeed, that such popes of immorality, as 
have governed, such councils of confusion as have 
met, or such a church of moral degradation as has 
existed, should be influenced by the Holy Spirit of God,, 
and exempted by this means from error, is an absurd- 
ity and an insult to all common sense. No valid rea- 
son could be given w^hy God in his goodness to man,, 
should confer doctrinal, and withhold moral infalli- 
bility. For impeccability in duty is as valuable ia 
itself, and as necessary for the perfection of the hu- 
man character, as inerrability in faith. God is of purer- 
eyes than to behold iniquity, and grant infallibility. 
^'Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the: 
Lord." — Heb. XII, 14. Nay, neither in this life nor 
in the life to come. Moral apostasy is, indeed, in 
many cases, more culpable than doctrinal errors. The 
one is sometimes invincible, while the other is always, 
voluntary. But no individual or society is gifted. 
Avith impeccability, or has reason to claim infallibility. 
Its moral impossibility, without personal and individual, 
inspiration, and the special interposition of heaven in. 
each case, is as clear, as its improbability and non- 
sensicalness. Suppose, the popes inspired, and' 
admit, that the pontifical bulls spoken, (ex-cathedra) 
from the chair are the fruits of divine inspiration and. 
declarations of heaven. Each of the clergy and laitj 
are fallible, even according to their own system. The 
patrons of infallibility, in a catholic sense or capacity^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 229 

grant that the several individuals taken separately, 
are liable to err. Some of the clergy may, therefore, 
misunderstand and misinterpret the papal bull to the 
people. Or^ suppose each of the clergy in his separate 
capacity to understand and explain the pontiffs com- 
munication, with the utmost precision, the laity, never- 
theless, if uninspired or fallible, may misapprehend the 
explanation, and in consequence embrace heresy. The 
papal instructions, therefore, though true and infalli- 
ble in themselves, may be perverted in their transmis- 
sion through a fallible medium to the people. 

An individual, who is not unerring, cannot be eer 
tain he has interpreted any synodal decision in its; 
proper or right sense. A Roman priest, if he mistake 
the meaning, will lead his flock astray. A layman, if 
fallible in apprehension, may misconceive the signifi- 
cation of any instruction issued, either by synodal or 
papal authority. Each individual, in short, must be 
an infallible judge of controversy, or from misappre- 
hension may be deceived, and so there is, according to* 
common reason and logic, an end to the infallibility of 
the church. Many instances of mistaking the mean- 
ing of synodal definitions might be adduced. Evem 
the councils of Chalcedon and Trent, two of the most 
celebrated synods in the annals of the church, have 
been contradictory in their explanations. Pontifical, 
as synodal definitions have been misunderstood and 
subjected to contradictory interpretations. 

The bull " UnigenituSj^^ issued by Clement XI, 
affords an example of this kind. In vain have the 
men of the church opposed the proclamation of per- 



230 SIJC YEARS A PRIEST; 

sonal infallibilty of the Pope. In vain was the strong 
opposition of one hundred and fifty-two (152) bishops 
in the last ecumenical council, held in the Vatican, 
from December 8th, 1869, to July 18th, 1870. Even 
for a long time, previous to this council, there had been 
a large number of thinking christians, especially 
among the representatives of Theological science, 
ecclesiastical laAV, history and philosophy, who per- 
ceived that the ^' Roman Curia" had adopted a plan, 
which tended to the annihilation of spiritual liberty 
and freedom in all branches of knowledge, even to the 
overthrow of the independence of the bishops, the 
absolute centralization of church government, by the 
destruction of all national, territorial peculiarites in 
individual churches ; in short, to the absolute subju- 
gation of all people to the sovereignty of the pope in 
the church. It was known, that the idea of Gregory VII, 
Innocent III, and Boniface VIII, were exclusively 
followed by the clergy, whose aim it was to obtain 
papal sovereignty, regal monarchy, and dominion over 
kings. It was also known, that every seeming con- 
cession to the exingencies of the times, was due to the 
fact, that Rome could not yet openly come forward 
i^ith its real plans. 

Much of the influential genius in church and 
^tate, and men well versed in the history of the world, 
in the theology of the ages, and the spirit of human 
progress, thought, that it might yet be possible to ef- 
fect a mutual understanding on the personal infalli- 
l)ility of the p^pe, between the Jesuistic and liberal 
party ; an understanding, not based upon an ultramon- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 231 

tane tendency, but upon the domain of science, in 
order to keep their mother church, Avhich they dearly 
loved, from storms and collisions with civil authorities, 
which must and will be the consequence of this fatal 
dogma. Since the declaration of papal infallibility, 
(ex-cathedra) papacy has placed itself in such a rela- 
tion to governments, that it either must reign in civil 
affairs or die without reigning. Popery has changed 
its position towards governments, from a relatively to a 
positively antagonistic position ; it has declared the 
^' ultimatum ;^^ it has pronounced the '' casus helli,^^ to 
all governors and nations, and will, therefore, contend 
wdth them, probably separately, but constantly and 
obstinately, and in such a manner, as wisdom and policy 
may dictate. The wisest men of the age, though com- 
pared with that whole body, but few in number, tried 
to save it, and effected the so-called Catholic Literary 
Congress, which was held at Munich, September 28th, 
— October 1st, 1863, and expressed openly their 
desire and endeavor. Other societies would have met 
to prepare the ground for further labor, however, the 
conduct of the Curia prevented such meetings, and 
the Syllabus plainly forbade them. While the struggle, 
which had lasted so long, was continued quietly in the 
realm of science ; it broke out into a general and de- 
clared war immediately at the opening of the ecumeni- 
cal Council, when the designs of Rome and of the 
Jesuits who directed them, became manifest, even to 
the world. In the beginning of this council it became 
inown, that it convened for the purpose of proclaim- 
ing the absolute sovereignty and dogmatic infallibility 



232 SIJT YEARS A PRIEST; 

of the pope, thus making, what was formerly, simpljr 
a private opinion of individual Catholics, to be a. 
dogma of faith, without which no man can be a catho- 
lic, and no man can be saved. The Vatican Council 
was a scene of confusion from the beginning to the 
end. The scheme on " Faith^^. met with much opposi- 
tion; eleven prelates on the first two days, spoke 
against it, but the interest and excitement culminated 
on the 22d of March, when Strossmayer, a Hungarian 
prelate, the '' Doctor and Oraio/^ of the Europeaa. 
Episcopate spoke in return. 

He called attention to the well-known historical 
fact, that in countries before the Reformation, religious 
indifference and heresy were common, and that the 
unbelief, which attained its climax in the French revo- 
lution, had manifested itself not in a protestant, but 
in a catholic nation ; he reminded them of the distin- 
guished services, w^hich protestants, by their able 
answers to infidel arguments, had rendered to the 
cause of Christianity in general, and added: ''that all 
Christians were under obligations to such writers as 
Leibnitz and Guizot." Each of these statements was 
received with murmurs, which, at last, rose to a torrent 
of indignation. The President cried out: ''This is 
no place to praise Protestants !" Strossmayer, undis- 
mayed by the uproar, exclaimed : " That alone can be 
imposed upon the faithful as a dogma, which has the 
moral unanimity of the bishops in its favor." Several 
prelates, upon this, sprang to their feet, rushed to the 
tribune, and in wild excitement, shook their fists in 
the speaker's face, exclaiming : " Shame !" " Shame !'^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 23^ 

" Down with the heretic V^ One bishop went so far as 
to call him a " damnable heretic ! " The tumult was so 
awful, that an American prelate afterwards remarked : 
'' that he now knew, at least, one assembly rougher in 
its deliberations, than the congress of his own country." 

In the debate on '' Discipline," Strossmayer said 
among other things : that the centralization of power 
of Rome was stifling the very life of the church, and 
he called the Canon law, as it now exits, a Babylonish 
confusion. For nearly two months, infallibility was 
the grand subject of discussion and debate, and there 
was not only much difference of opinion, but much 
opposition in debate. Strossmayer said : " If the^ 
pope was infallible, there was no need to call a coun- 
cil, since the shortest way would be to inquire of the 
oracle, that never errs." 

The Cardinal, Archbishop of Bologna, said : 'Hhat 
the personal infallibility of the pope, was a doctrine 
unknown to the church down till the fourteenth cen- 
tury, that scripture and tradition furnished no proof 
of it ;" and he asked ^^ if a single instance could be 
shown where the pope, apart from the church, had ever 
defined a single dogma." As he proceeded, a prelate 
on the other side, called him " a scoundrel," and an- 
other ''a brigand." The Archbishop of Halifax made 
a great and powerful speech. Three times he said he 
had asked for proof — the church, tradition and from 
councils, to show that the bishops of the church were 
excluded from the definition of dogma, but hitherto he 
had asked in vain, and concluded, by saying : ^' that to 
exclude the bishops from the definition of a dogma^ 



234 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

was to transform the whole church, and the bishops 
with it, into a rabble of blind men, among whom is 
only one who sees, so that they must shut their eyes 
and believe, what he tells them." 

When the preliminary vote was taken, on the 13th 
of July, 1870, ninety-one members, who were known 
to be in Rome at the time, did not answer to their 
names: Of the six hundred and one present, four 
hundred and fifty-one voted " Placet ;" sixty-two voted 
^' Placet juxta modum,^' i. e., coiidionally ^ diXidi Qi^ij- 
eighty " JVo7i\Placet.^^ This minority would probably 
liave been larger, but for the strong influences, which 
liad been set to work to diminish it. As it was, these 
two hundred and forty-one were men of the highest 
talents and eminence in the church, both in Europe 
and America, whilst the majority consisted of Italians 
and Spaniards ; men of little distinction, except in 
their own neighborhood. Two days after the vote Avas 
taken, a deputation of the most influential members of 
the minority, among whom were Darboy, Simor, and 
Kettler, waiting on the pope, and entreating him to 
make some modifications in the schema of his infalli- 
bility. To their surprise, (and they could only believe 
it, because the pope said it) — he replied : "that he had 
not read the schema, and did not know, what it con- 
tained." Nor were they less surprised, Avhen he said: 
^ that the church had always taught the unconditional 
infallibility of the pope." Bishop Kettler then fell 
upon his knees and implored him to make some con- 
cession, but in vain. Two days later, fifty-seven pre- 
lates sent in a written protest to the pope, stating, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 235 

♦ 
^Hhat their minds were unchanged, but, that out of 
respect to his holiness, they would not vote against a 
measure in which he took so deep an interest, and that, 
therefore, they would return to their homes" which 
they did, and the same evening, others left the city. 
But in the meantime successful efforts were made to 
bring over some of those, who had at first voted Non 
Placet^ when the final vote was taken July 18th, five 
hundred and thirty- one y otedi Placet. So the personal 
infallibility of the pope Avas proclaimed against the 
scripture, against the history, against the civilized 
world, and against the unanimous wish of the church ; 
it was proclaimed after a Jesuistical preparation of 
three hundred years, under thunder, storm and deluge,- 
outside doors, under storm and bitterness in the hearts 
of the holy fathers, and to the universal disgust and 
protest of Diplomates and Statesmen, and forced upon 
the consciences of Roman Catholics by illegal proceed- 
ings and simonious bribery. If Pius the IX is infalli- 
ble, all his predecessors enjoyed the same privilege^ 
and if the head, its councils and church are infallible, 
all the single articles of faith in that church must be 
of the same character. If this is the case. State and 
Church are not of a coordinate power, but the former 
is subordinate to the latter in all matters, that pertain 
to religion and morals, science and education. There- , 
fore, the Church has the right to exercise supreme 
power over the state, in both religious and educatianal 
matters, as it has practiced during the mediaeval ages„ 
and consequently its relation to civil governments is 
such, as to enable it to suit its peculiar ambitions and 



^ 233 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

its denominational aims. This is what Rome claims, 
and that Church will not rest, before she has it all, or 
is exhausted, in her struggles to the utmost. Ameri- 
cans, if you love peace and a service in catholic bond- 
age, surrender your arms now, and you may escape a 
desperate struggle in future ; but if you hate contro- 
versy, riot, revolution and war, draw up your prelimi- 
naries for an indefinite truce; and be sure to keep in that 
m;anuscript, control over ''profane and sacred j^rotestant 
JEducation f' outstrip the catholics in science, in every 
respect; in the public school system and collegiate 
course ; in Denominational schools and State Univer- 
sities. For with education, you will obtain mental 
and military power, retain nationality in your borders, 
and the control of votes in a free and independent 
American Republic, 

If popery is infallible, its doctrine, relating to 
l)aptism, must be true. So then, baptism is a neces- 
sary requisite for the salvation of any man. An un- 
l^aptized person, cannot be saved. Some of the 
catholic theologians think, that an unbaptized child, 
that dies Avithout this sacrament, Avill be condemned. 
Others speculate, that it cannot enjoy a supernatural 
happiness, admitting, that it may obtain a natural joy, 
but will never be permitted to enter into the society of 
the angels, and behold God face to face ; and others, 
again, teach, that it will exist in a state of unconscious- 
ness. Therefore, catholic parents are bound to have 
their infants baptized in forty-eight hours after birth. 
And when in child-birth, a difficulty occurs, such as to 
cause an immediate danger to the life of the child, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 237 

that of the mother must be sacrificed by the physi- 
<jian's hand, to save that of the infant ; for the mother 
being baptised, may be prepared to enter heaven, but 
the child not being baptized, cannot be saved. In case 
1;he attending physician should declare, that the child 
cannot be brought into the world alive, the priest is 
under obligation, by pain of suspension, to apply water 
lyith his fingers to the head of the infant in the womb 
of its mother, for the purpose of baptising it, to save 
it from eternal condemnation. Thus it happens, that 
many lives of catholic mothers are prematurely sacri- 
ficed, in order to save their infants from death, even in 
contradiction to the laws adopted in protestant 
countries. Catholics are not bound to observe the 
laws w^hich are in conflict with their doctrines or dis- 
cipline ; on the . other hand,* they would commit a 
mortal sin in many instances, if they would comply 
i\^ith the dictates of civil law, because Rome is the 
supreme authority in matter of conscience, and who 
should dare to contradict the unerring teachings of 
that church. Many other examples might be furnished 
to show the pernicious tendency of catholic doctrines 
in their nature, relation and practice, to civil constitu- 
tions and laws in protestant countries, yet, this fact 
i^ill suffice. 

Mr. Gladstone, on touching catholic theology, in 
its civil bearing upon the State, remarks correctly, as 
follows : " It is the peculiarity of Roman theology, 
that, by thrusting itself into the temporal domain, it 
naturally and even necessarily comes to be a frequent 
theme of political discussion ; that their religion is 



238 SIJT YEARS A PRIEST; 

more, than any other, the occasion of conflicts with 
the State and of civil disquietude. But this hardship, 
which they have to endure, is brought upon them alto- 
gether, by the conduct of the authorities of their own 
church.'^ 

As ancient Theocracy and State were essentially 
and inseparably interwoven one with another, so was 
Romanism, which established its dominion upon the 
ruins of Paganism, closely and systematically inter- 
mingled with monarchism, and exercised its supreme 
power over christian nations for one thousand years. 
The Reformation found the Christian State in such 
condition, sufi*ering under the iron hoofs of popery, 
and its arbitrary supremacy. To relieve the State 
from this despotic Supremacy, Protestantism and pro- 
gross have endeavored to draw gradually, distinct de- 
markations between God's Kingdom and Caesar's reign, 
but after a desperate struggle, principally during the 
present century Rome claims the supremacy over State 
as well as Church, and this mediaeval system, although 
not in practice, is to-day the same in theory, as it 
always has been. For, this fact is owing to the nature 
of the doctrines of Catholicism, not only in general, 
but also in particular ; to the teachings relative to 
priesthood, apostolic succession, Roman hierarchy, 
confession, holy sacrifice of mass, matrimony and in- 
fallibility, in all instances. Rome is compelled, by 
circumstances, to teach, that State and Church can 
never be separated, and if it should be separated in 
spite of all papal demonstrations and clerical oppo- 
sition, popery must sink into oblivion, but not without 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 230 

fearful struggles. The separation of Church and 
State, in European countries, has been agitating the 
minds of the ecclesiastical and civil party during the 
last ten years particularly, and yet, there is a great 
conflict prevailing to-day ; nothing is accomplished, at 
least every thing is far from being completed; the pa- 
trons of inseparableness of the ecclesiastical power, 
from that of the State, are only waiting and lurking 
like monstrous serpents in the thickness of the forest 
for a proper hour of new activity and renewed battles, 
upon civil authorities everywhere. The afl*airs of the 
State, in Continental Europe, are every day becoming 
more and more mixed up with the afi'airs of the Church. 
It is apparent, how diflScult it is to keep politics apart 
from questions of catholic religion, and how persist- 
ently the Roman Church clings to the idea of impress- 
ing the minds, consciences and actions of men, without 
any regard to the law of the State, where its influence 
is exercised. The civil power is everywhere called 
upon to make its choice between accepting the gage of 
battle, thrown down by an ecclesiastical party, which 
has the immense superiority over all political parties, 
of being circumscribed by no local boundaries, and 
hampered by no tangible responsibilities. In all the 
world's history there has been no phenomenon more 
remarkable, than the influence, which the Vatican at 
present exercises over the internal afi'airs of every 
civilized country. Although the pope commands in 
Europe the absolute allegiance of but two fragments 
of kingdoms — Ireland and Poland — yet, in spite of the 
almost equal shrinking of the patrimony of St. Peter, 

16 



2^0 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

and as the acknowledged political influence of the 
Papacy, there is no great power in either hemisphere, 
which does not feel the effects of the policy of the 
Holy See. 

If Catholic Europe has ceased to be a geographi- 
cal expression, it has not yet ceased to represent a 
great spiritual power. Prussia has imprisoned seven 
Catholic bishops and hundreds of priests, or has fined 
two thousand pastors and fifteen hundred laymen ; 
has passed law after law for the regulation of the 
Church, the alteration of its revenues, and the banish- 
ment of its more obnoxious teachers, and j^et there is 
no faltering in the resistance maintained by the adhe- 
rents of the pope. In France, there is no longer a 
ruler to sustain the temporal power of the Church, by 
foreign bayonets nor a public sentiment, which would 
applaud such a proceeding, but the Republican Gov- 
ernment labors in vain to emancipate its schools, 
either upper or lower from its priestly influence, and 
there never has been a more unquestioning belief, in 
the wonderworking influence of shrines and relics, 
than there is at present. Austria has fallen away 
from the Concordat, but finds the task of readjusting 
the relations between Church and State not only very 
diflScult, but also perilous. The aggressive party in 
the Church maintains, with diflBcully, its supremacy, 
and the civil authorities, on the other hand, find that 
it is an easier matter to pass a law there for the ex- 
pj-ess purpose of punishing people, than it would be to 
pass a law for the regulation of catholic aff*airs. Even 
in England, where the power of the Roman Church 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 241 

1/VOuld seem to be as little to be dreaded as anywhere 
in the world, the parliament has found it necessary to 
hint, that the law^, which forbids a Jesuit to enter the 
country and establish his order there, is not by any 
means obsolete. In one form or other, the ecclesias- 
tical conflict, which now agitates Europe, must expand 
in dimensions and increase in bitterness. I, on my 
part, fail to see, how such a warfare can reman blood- 
less. The political causes of discord, which exist in 
Europe are numerous enough to excite grave appre- 
hensions, but their power of provoking war is greatly 
intensified by the ecclesiastical enmity, which stands 
ready to turn them to account. The great European 
struggle will be a religious and political one, between 
two rivals. Church and State, and America may be in- 
volved in riotousness and bloodshed. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

DANGER TO AMERICA FROM ROMAN CATHOLICISM CON- 
TINUED. — ITS DOGMATICAL STANDPOINT. 

The collective truth of Christ's Gospel maintained^ in the va- 
rious branches of Christianity — Protestants prefer to confess 
to Christy not to a set of drimken priests — " Reserved cases ^ in 
confession — Excommunication — A reserved case — Manner 
of priestly absolution in general^ from anathema in particu- 
lar — Anathema a miracle in the Church of Belzebub — Dis- 
belief of Protestants in excommunication — Anathema a 
strong power — Excommunication and inquisition a scourge 
to progressive humanity. — Belief that protestants are heretics^ 
and must be exterminated^ etc. 

PROTESTANTISM proclaims the absolute sever- 
eignty and infallibility of Jesus Christ and His 
Gospel. Protestants frankly acknowledge, that no 
branch of the Christian Church has exclusive truth, 
but that a collective truth of Christ's Gospel is main- 
tained in all the branches of the various denominations, 
and that "not one jot and one tittle will pass away 
till all is fulfilled.'' They firmly believe, " that the 
Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salva- 
tion; so that whatever is not read therein, nor may be 
proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it 
should be believed as an article of faith," or be thought 
requisite or necessary for salvation. Protestants fur- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 245 

ther believe, that no amount or degree of contrition 
can efface sin, that the salvation, which God bestows, 
is of Grace through faith ; " the blood of Jesus 
cleanses from all sin/' 

The idea of human merit before God is regarded 
by protestants as in direct contradiction to the scrip- 
tures, which represent salvation as wholly of grace, 
not works, " lest any man should boast/' Rom. 3 : 
24 : 4:2 Eph. 2 : 8, 9. Protestants do not believe, 
that " all mortal sins must be revealed to the minister 
of religion ;'' that ^' venial sins, which do not separate 
us from the grace of God, and into which we fre- 
quently fall, although as the experience of the pious 
proves, proper and profitable to be confessed, maybe 
omitted without sin and expiated by a variety of other 
means/^ They prefer to go directly to Christ, in all 
instances, for He is infallible to the utmost ; they trust 
in Him under all circumstances of life, and there- 
fore, do not need to pay for costly confessionals, and 
robes loaded with embroideries, or pay confessor's fees, 
either directly or indirectly, but they are permitted to 
keep their hard earned money to use for the comfort 
of their families. 

Protestants do not believe, that parents and guard- 
ians are guilty of a mortal sin, if their children, about 
seven years old, do not know the Apostle's creed ; the 
Lord's Prayer ; the commandments ; the manner of 
hearing mass, and the making their confession with 
sincerity and contrition ; neither can they believe, that 
" Catholic electors, in this country, who do not use 
their electoral power in behalf of separate schools. 



244 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

are also guilty of mortal sin. Likewise, parents not 
making the sacrifices necessary to secure such schools^ 
or sending their children to mixed schools." '' More- 
over, that the Confessor, who would give absolution to- 
such parents, electors, or legislators, as support mixed- 
schools, to the prejudice of separate schools, would be 
guilty of a mortal sin." Rt. Rev. Amandus Francis 
Mary de Charbonnel, bishop of Toronto, in Canada^ 
1859. 

Wliile I was still connected with the Catholic; 
Church, as pastor, my bishop requested me to observe 
said rules in regard to ^'Public Schools," and they are- 
substantially to be carried out in all Dioceses of the 
United States, at this hour, on pain of suspension, or 
even excommunication of the pastors by their Supe- 
riors." There are some offences, commonly called. 
"reserved cases,^^ for which none but the pope can. 
grant absolution, and hence, on Thursday and Friday 
of Holy Week, a Cardinal in Rome, or a " Pater Om~ 
nipotenSj'^ instead of the pope in the cathedral of eack 
Diocese, armed with the delegated powers of the Suc- 
cessor of St. Peter sits to receive confessions of suck 
crimes, and to grant absolution. There is a long list 
of such '' reserved eases,'' and for these reasons cannot, 
all be given. I will mention one or two of them : 
Among these ''cases reserved," are the cases of those^ 
who falsely before ecclesiastical judges charge inno- 
cent priests with solicitation, or wickedly procure that- 
to be done by others, and particularly excommunica- 
tion." According to the " Itoman Pontifical,' ' Excom- 



ONE DECADE A PROTECTANT. 245 

munication is threefold, to* wit: ''minor/' "major/' 
and '' anathema/' 

The minor excommunicati'^n is occasioned by par- 
ticipation only with an excommunicate, and from such, 
a simple priest can absolve without the precaution of 
an oath ; but in such a case, let the excommunicate 
confess to his own priest, saying : '' I confess to God, 
to the Holy Mary, to St. Michial, the Archangel, to 
St. Peter, and St. Paul, and to all the Saints, and you, 
Ghostly Father, that I am, an excommunicate, because 
I participated Avith an excommunicate, in prayer, con- 
versation, drinking or eating with him." The priest 
absolving him, pronounces the words of absolution, 
including those of excommunication : '' By the author- 
ity of Almighty God granted to me : '' I absolve thee 
from the bond of this excommunication, which thou 
hast confessed, and from any other like it, so far as I 
can and ought ; and restore thee to the communion of 
the Church." The priest pronounces then the sign of 
the cross (making it with his hand) saying : " In the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." The form 
of '' Absolution," in all common cases, is as follows : 
After having given a wholesome penance- to the peni- 
tent, the priest says in Latin, of course : 

'• Almighty God, pity thee, and forgiving thy sins, 
lead thee to everlasting life. Amen." Then raising 
his right hand toward the penitent, he continues : 
" Indulgence, absolution, and remission of thy sins, 
the Almighty and merciful God, give thee. Amen. 

" Or, the' Lord Jesus Christ absolve thee ; and I, 
by his authority, absolve thee from every bond of ex- 



246 SIJ: years a PRIEST; 

communication, suspension, and interdict, so far as I 
can, and thou needest. Then I absolve thee in the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, (sign of the 
cross"). If the penitent is a layman, the word *• sus- 
pension'^ is omitted. 

"The passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merits 
of the blessed Virgin and all the Saints, whatever of 
good thou niayest have done, and if evil thou mayest 
have borne, be to thee for the remission of sins, in- 
crease of grace and reward of eternal life. Amen.'^ 

If the penitent is dying, the priest says briefly . 

" I absolve thee from all censures and sins, in the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.'' 

But the major excommunication, which the bishop 
reads through in promulgating this written sentence, 
is still of a graver character. Having announced the 
case of wickedness or disobedience, or obstinacy of 
the person to be excommunicated. The bishop says : 
" Therefore, by the authority of Almighty God, Fa- 
ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, and of the blessed apos- 
tles, Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, his own 
obstinacy demanding it, I excommunicate in writing; 
and I announce him as one to be shunned until he shall 
have fulfilled what is commanded, tha^ his spirit may 
be saved in the day of judgment." The absolution 
from the major excommunication, requires the excom- 
municate to take an oath of obedience, to appear strip- 
ped to his shirt, before his bishop, for the purpose 
of being reconciled to the Church, to make suitable 
satisfaction, etc., and if a little money can be obtained 
on such occasions, of course the penitent will be re- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 247 

leased easily and with a smiling countenance, both of 
the confessor and the sinner. 

The anathema or solemn excommunication for 
greater crimes, which is pronounced by the bishop 
arrayed in his amice and stole, and purple cope and 
mitre, and assisted by twelve surpliced priests, Avhile 
all hold burning candles in their hands and stand before 
the high altar, w^hile he is promulgating these words : — 

"Because N., at the suggestion of the devil, disre- 
garding, through apostasy, the christian promise, 
which he made in baptism, does not fear to lay Avaste 
the Church of God, to plunder the Church's goods, 
and violently to oppress Christ's poor ; therefore, we 
are anxious, lest he perish through pastoral neglect, 
for which we may have to give an account at the tre- 
mendous judgment before the Chief Shepherd, our 
Lord Jesus Christ, according to the terrible threat, 
ivhich our Lord himself utters : ' If thou shalt not 
have announced to the unrighteous his unrighteousness, 
His blood will I require at thy hand ;" we admonish 
canonically, for the first, second, third, and also the 
fourth time, to convince him of his wickedness, invi- 
ting him to amendment, satisfaction and penance and 
taking hold of him with paternal affection. But, he 
himself, oh sorrow, spurning wholesotoe admonitions, 
puffed up with a spirit of pride, disdains to make sat- 
isfaction to the Church of God, which he has injured. 
We pronounce, therefore, upon him anathema, for our 
Lord says : ^' If thy hand or foot cause thee to offend, 
cut it oJSF, and cast it from thee," etc. Therefore, ful- 
£lling the precept of the Lord and his apostles, we 



248 ^IX YEARS A PRIEST; 

cut off from the body of the Church with the sword of 
^'Excommunication/' a rotten limb, that cannot be 
healed, that does not bear fruit, lest the remaining 
limbs of the body be infected with so deadly a disease 
as Avill poison. Therefore, because he has despised 
our admonitions and exhortations, because having been 
for the third time, according to the Lord's precept 
called, he h^s disdained to come to amendment and 
penance, because he has neither considered his own. 
fault, nor confessed it, nor by sending an embassy al-^ 
leged any excuse, nor asked forgiveness, but the devil 
hardening his heart, perseveres in the wickedness 
begun, as the apostle says : " According to his own 
hardness and impenitent heart, he treasures up to him- 
self wrath against the day of wrath :" therefore, by 
the judgment of Almighty God : Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit, and of the blessed Peter, the prince of 
the apostles, and of all the Saints; also by the author^ 
ity of our own mediocrity, and by the power, divinely 
placed in us, of binding and loosing in heaven, and in 
earth, we do separate him, Avith all his accomplices and 
favorers, from the perception of the precious body and 
blood of the Lord, and from the fellowship with all 
christians, and we exclude him from the limits of the 
holy mother church in heaven and in earth ; and we 
pronounce him to be excommunicated and anathema- 
tized ; and we adjudge him condemned with the devil 
and his angels, and all the reprobate to eternal fire, 
until he may recover himself from the snares of the 
devil, and to return to amendment and penance, to 
make satisfaction to the Church, which he has injured: 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 24^^ 

delivering him to Satan for the destruction of the- 
flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of 
judgment," 

And all answer: '^ Be it done, be it done, be it 
done!" Then the pontiff and the priests throw down 
to the ground the burning candles, Avhich they hold in 
their hands. Then a letter is to be sent to the priests, 
through the parishes, and also to the neighboring 
bishop, containing the name and the cause of excom- 
munication of said person. There are still other forms 
more severe, which may be used, to dispatch the souls 
of the living to the devil. 

The absolution from the anathema, and the recon-^ 
ciliation to the Church, require the presence of the 
pontiff and twelve priests-; and the penitent has to 
appear stripped to his shirt before a bishop empowered- 
by the pope, or before Hi3 Holiness himself, to be re- 
leased. 

Of course, Roman Catholics believe in such a sys- 
tem of dogmatical nonsense, but Protestants sneer at 
it, and for very good reasons, too. It seems too funny, 
to throw first, a poor sinner into a deep pit, to be 
drowned by excommunication, and then to draw him up 
again by confession, to be restored to life. Well, that 
is a miracle, but a miracle wrought in the Church of 
Beelzebub, and not in the Church of Christ. For 
Christ, when he was living upon earth, visited sinners^ 
did eat with them, and prayed for those, who persecu- 
ted Him, but never sent them, with soul and body, to 
the devil. The practice of ^^ Excommunication" seems- 
to imitate the method of those foolish physicians, who 



250 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

prepare at first for their patients such pills^ that may 
cause them deadly sickness, pretending, that they are 
their best friends, because it were the surest way of 
curing the sick thoroughly, and that nothing but the 
spirit of christian duty and love had moved them to 
pursue such a course of treatment, however truly pur- 
posing to prevent them from a too speedy recovery, 
and Avho increase thus too frequently their own purses 
Avith the coins of the maltreated. When Christ, the 
founder of the Christian Church, was living and teach- 
ing upon earth, He did not issue excommunication 
bulls, but He invited sinners to come unto Him ; bore 
with them patiently, and admonished them parentally, 
to return to. their dear Father's home; He spoke to 
them in the spirit of kindness and forgiveness, demand- 
ing, also, of his apostles and disciples, that they should 
forgive their fellow-men, '' seventy times seven." Our 
Saviour knew, indeed, too well, that the lost sheep 
sooner would be recalled to the flock by kind words of 
pity and compassion, than by the cracking whips of 
damnation and excommunication. Protestants do not 
believe in excommunication bulls, and in confessionary 
absolutions, uttered by a drunken and impure set of 
Roman vicegerents. However, Catholics do not care, 
what Protestants believe, knowing that excommunica- 
tion from the Church and confession in the Church, are 
the two strong powers in the Romish system. As 
long as the clerical party in that church can keep up 
confession, excommunication, and inquisition, it will 
have full control over the conscience of the masses, 
obtain a thorough insight in all political and moral 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 251 

affairs, and be a scourge to progressive humanity. It 
is a belief in the Roman Catholic Church, that all 
Protestants are heretics, and all heretics ought to be 
put to death, their property confiscated, and turned 
over to those, who will put them to death and hold it 
for the true church. This is as truly the doctrine of 
the Roman Catholic Church to-day, in our country, as 
it was in Spain and other countries, when the Inquisi- 
tion was successfully employed to exterminate heretics. 
The only difference is, America is yet a Protestant 
country, and Spain was a Catholic country. The 
American government permits the liberty of con- 
science, the Spanish did not. The intolerant doctrines 
of popery are not changed in the smallest degree for 
the better ; on the other hand, for the worse, since the 
Vatican promulgation of papal Infallibility. As a 
catholic priest, I studied the " Moral Theology" of 
St. Liguory, and as Protestant, I read Peter Den's 
work on Theology, published in 1864, and which are 
still now in my possession, and here I read in the 
clearest possible terms, that heretics ought to be put 
to death : 

Peter Dens says emphatically : " Notorious here- 
tics are infamous, and are to be deprived of ecclesias- 
tical burial. 

" Their temporal goods are, of course, confiscated ; 
yet, a declaratory opinion concerning the crime from 
the ecclesiastical judge, ought to precede the execu- 
tion : because the cognizance of heresy belongs to the 
ecclesiastical court." 

" Finally, they are deservedly visited with other 



252 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

penalities, even corporeal, as exile, imprisonment, etc." 
Among the Theologians of the Roman Catholic 
dhurch, frequently the question arose, both among an- 
.cient and modern : '' If heretics be rightfully punished 
with death ?" Many answer in the affirmative, saying : 
'^^ Because forgers of money or other disturbers of the 
State, are justly punished Avith death ; therefore, also 
heretics, who are forgers of the faith, and as experience 
:;hows, greatly disturb the State. '^ This is confirmed 
Tby the command of God under the old law, that the 
false prophets should be killed. The same is proved 
T^y the condemnation of John Huss, in the council of 
^' Constance." 

Rt. Rev. Thomas Foley, D.D., appointed by the 
Holy See, coadjutor of the Bishop of Chicago (Rt. 
Hev. James Duncan, D.D., w^ho is said to have retired 
on account of infirm health?) and Administrator of 
the Diocese, Nov. 19, 1869 ; consecrated Bishop of 
Tergannes, in part, infidel^ February 27, 1870, brought 
recently suit against Rev. Charles Chenequy, Kanka- 
kee City, Illinois, to dispossess him and the congrega-. 
tion, of the property. Rev. Charles Chenequy had 
been a French priest, but renounced Romanism and 
retained his congregation and Church property. 

On this occasion, the bishop was required to read 
in Latin and translate into English, the following laws 
and fundamental principles of action against the 
heretics, as explained by St. Liguori, and St. Thomas, 
which he did reluctlantly. The bishop read : 

" Quanquam heretici tolerandi non sunt ipso illorum 
demeritOj usque tamen ad secundem corredionem expect- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 253 

audi sunt, ut ad sanam redeant ecclesiae fiderrij^ etc. 

" Though heretics must not be tolerated because 
they deserve it, we must bear them till, by a second 
admonition, they may be brought back to the faith of 
the Church. But those Avho, after a second admoni- 
tion, remain obstinate in their errors, must not only be 
excommunicated, but they must be delivered to the 
secular power, to be exterminated. St. Thomas, vol. 
4, page 91." 

^' Quamquam heretici reverentes, semper recipiendi 
sint ad poeitentiam quoties eumque relapsi fiterint,'^ etc. 

" Though the heretics who repent must always be 
accepted to penance as often as they have fallen, they 
must not, in consequence of that always be permitted 
to enjoy the benefits of this life. • • • When they 
fall again they are admitted to repent. • • • But 
the sentence of death must not be removed. St. 
Thomas, vol. 4, page 91. 

'' Quum quis sententiam denuntiatur propter aposta- 
siam excommu7iicatus,^^ etc. 

" When a man is excommunicated for his apostasy, 
it follows from that very fact, that all those who are 
his subjects, are released from the oath of allegiance, 
by which they were bound to obey him. St. Thomas, 
Yol. 4, page 94." 

Then, being asked about the authority of the "Moral 
Theology" of St. Liguori and St. Thomas, in the 
Church, the bishop answered : '' that they were of the 
highest authority, on both continents, used in their 
colleges and universities, and had never been re- 
pealed." 



254 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

From this, it appears, that bishops and priests, and 
their devotees, must be truly loyal citizens in protest- 
ant countries, or rather, I should say, disloyal instiga- 
tors to overthrow the power and supremacy of God, 
displeasing governments, and consequently of illegal 
authorities. For Protestants or heretics are in sight 
of catholic authorities, of little more value than an 
animal, or a well fed hound ; perhaps not as much, since 
the soul of a protestant cannot be saved. That is a 
doctrine of infallible catholicity, and the mere body of 
a living or dead protestant, without salvation, what 
does it avail ? " Destroy him to serve humanity, and 
to please the catholic God !'^ 

Besides the Theology of St. Liguor and St. 
Thomas, I have still in my possession a Catechism of 
the Council of Trent, whish claims : " that confession 
not only removes the sins from the soul of the sinner, 
but also gives him grace and strength that he is able 
to lead a better and holier life," in these words : 

" Abolish sacramental confession, and at that mo- 
ment you deluge society with all sort of secret crimes, 
crimen, too, and others of still greater enormity, which 
men once that they have been depraved by vicious 
habits, will not dread to commit in open day. The 
salutary shame, that attends confession, restrains li- 
centiousness, bridles desire, and coerces the evil pro- 
pensities of corrupt nature." 

I protest, solemnly, against this assertion, being 
prepared to show to the contrary. Compare that state 
of morals in protestant and popish countries ; what a^ 
difference ! Compare the moral condition of the cath- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 255 

olic with the protestant church, and you will find in 
the former, intemperance and impurity ; but in the 
latter, temperance and purity. 

History fully warrants the assertion, that priestly 
absolution, as practiced in the Romish Church, offers 
a large bounty to crime, and that confession is the 
school of every vice. I call the attention of citi- 
zens of the United States, to the records of Ireland 
and Italy, New-York and Chicago, which show that 
the immoral condition of the Catholic population is 
alarming. Examine the penitentiary of New- York, 
and you will meet in the cells from two to three catho- 
lics, where you find only one protestant. Here are the 
results of their confession-boxes ; their drunkenness, 
impurity, and crimes. 

The immorality of the " Holy City of Rome,^^ 
where the bones of the Saint3, the relics, blessed by 
the priests, and sold by wagon-loads, the holy 
water is used freely for blessing and drinking to keep 
off the Devil and his temptations ; where the venerable 
Pius IX stretches out constantly his hand and toe, 
to bless, and disperse evil powers, and writes without 
ceasing excommunication bulls, to separate the goats 
from the sheep. There, in that very Capital of the 
Roman Catholic world, dwells Satan in all forms of 
sin and crimes ; there, though denied by leading Cath- 
olic papers in America, is immorality flourishing, and 
this has been believed by both .Catholics and Protest- 
ants for centuries. 

Martin Luther, visiting Rome about 1510, while he 
was yet a pious Roman Catholic monk, was astonished 

17 



256 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

at what came under his observation in th^ Eternal 
City. This is his language : — 

"• No one can imagine, what sins and infamous 
actions are committed in Rome ; they must be seen and 
heard to be believed ; thus they are in the habit of 
saying: ''If there is a hell, Rome is built over it; it 
is an abyss, whence issues every kind of sin/^ 

Macchiavelli, the illustrious Statesman of Florence, 
and diplomatist of the 16th century, who lived and 
died a Roman Catholic, once said: '' The scandalous 
examples and crimes of the court of Rome are the 
cause, Avhy Italy has lost every principle of piety and 
all religious feeling. We Italians are indebted, prin- 
cipally, to the Church and priests for having become 
impious and immoral/^ 

Some twelve years ago, I had a conversation with 
a confrater, who had been studying theology in Rome 
during 1852, and Avas a very intimate friend of mine. 
One day he assured me, '' that there was not another 
place on the face of the^earth, where more gambling, 
theatre-going, lewdness, and prostitution, and princi- 
pally among the priests, are carried on, than in Rome, and 
also in the whole of Italy," remarking, jokingly to me ; 
^'but we ought to make some allowance for the Italian 
monks, because they live in a very hot climate.'^ 

Why is it, that the vicars of God lead such a shame- 
ful life ? It is, because celibacy revolts against nature. 
You may abandon nature for a certain time, but if you 
abandon it forever, you must either die, or submit to 
its course, again to live. This is not only a criterion 
in the physical, but also in the moral law. To live in 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 257 

marriage, is a divine institution, and an honorable 
marriage for a catholic priest would be an honor, where 
his mistresses are a shame to him, a disgrace to the 
Church, and a final moral ruin to any country where 
he lives, I think, Gregory, the great, showed no more 
common sense in introducing celibacy into the Church, 
as a dogma, than a stupid chicken three months old. 
Among twelve apostles I find but one Judas, who be- 
trayed his master, but since the introduction of celibacy, 
every third priest is a vessel filled with unchasity. 
Judas betrayed his sacred and kind master only once, 
but alas, the priests of God's altar betray him a hun- 
dred times a year ; Judas repented, despaired, and 
hung himself, but the vicars of Christ feign purity, de- 
lay repentance, remain connected with the tabarnacle, 
disgrace honorable families, and hang even the 
daughters of pure disposition and innocent love. I 
know it to be so, and submit it to the world, that the 
Church of Rome may be purified from a cancer, which 
has been eating its vitality for more than seven hun- 
dred years. Catholics may be able to draw a thick 
veil over the superstitious eyes of their own people, 
but they cannot hide any longer their sad condition 
from the sight of humanity ; their own actions, and 
the results of their corrupt deeds, betray them. 

Rev. Father Smarius, the great catholic missionary 
priest, giving missions in a certain town, fourteen 
years ago, sent me a dispatch to come right away to 
assist him in hearing confessions. Oh, how sad I was 
to find, that six or seven of ten priests in that section 
of the country, ought to have been married at that 



258 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

time, in their pretended state of celibacy. Such are 
the results of the Roman Catholic dogma of compelled 
celibacy among the priesthood in the United States. 
How can we account for such shameless conduct of 
the Roman clergy, in their secret closets ? No doubt, 
it is partly owing to the feverous agitations of the 
age, partly in clerical intemperance, and above all in 
Republican liberty and freedom of conscience, which 
catholic priests, as citizens of the United States, may 
enjoy. Popery understands its situation in a free 
country perfectly well, how difficult it is to control their 
priests under a Republican government, and will, there- 
fore, aim to make it first innoxious, and teach then its 
clergy the dogmatical lessons of obedience. 

A few words more and I will be through with this 
chapter. If Catholic religion is true, then errors are 
truth, corrupted dogmas are papal infallibility ; super- 
stition is faith, immorality is virtue, drunkenness is 
temperance, unchasity in the state of celibacy is better 
than legal matrimony, systematic deceitfulness is 
christian friendship, love to our neighbors is hatred ta 
protestantism, support to civil governments is self- 
supremacy, and Bible religion is a damned heresy. If 
anything, I have said, in regard to the immorality of 
the Catholic priests, should be denied, I am ready to 
prove and testify to it before the courts of justice in 
the United States of America. Suum Cuique^ 



CEAPTEB XVII. 

!rHE GREAT CONTEST BETWEEN ROMANISM AND PROTEST- 
ANTISM IN AMERICA HAS COMMENCED, 

And each party has its alliance, — Some Americans are alarm- 
ed; others are asleep to the danger^ hut Rome is planning 
to obtain control of the education of the young^ etc, 

IN spite of all these facts of corruption presented 
before, there is great danger that America will be 
catholicized. Who can dispute it? Even the last is- 
sues of our periodicals bring us the news of two 
clergymen of Oxford, who have been converted again 
to the Catholic faith during the last week. Indeed, 
Oxford seems to be doing a splendid work for Cathol- 
icism, and entire England has for years furnished 
Home with some of her choicest Anglican scholars. 

It is a curious coincidence, that while Ultramontan- 
ism has swept over all the north-western Roman Catho- 
lic fields of Europe, and thereby swept away even the 
old '' Gallic Liberties" of France, liberties once so 
dear to French Catholics, by the memory of their 
greatest divine, Bossuet, — a similar tendency, in the 
form of "High Churchism," has broken forth in the 
imperfectly '' Reformed Church" of the whole religious 
ivorld ; for '' High Churchism" is as rampant in the 



260 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Protestant Episcopal Church of America, as in the 
Church of England ; and it is undeniable, that there is 
but one step between " High Churchism and Ritual- 
ism." I do not know, if it is clear to others, but it is 
very clear to my mind, that this step in England and 
America is an almost inevitable, and will be a simul- 
taneous one. Catholics claim America, because a 
catholic discovered it. Protestants claim it, because 
they are the ruling majority at present; but the great 
contest has already commenced, each party having its 
alliance. Rome is trusting in the skill of Jesuitism, 
and the return of the Anglican Church, in the discord 
among the sects, and the adversities of some states of 
the union ; but Washington is relying upon Protest- 
antism and Republicanism, upon American patriotism 
and scientific progress. Some of us are alarmed,, 
others are asleep, because their ow^n political interests 
seem to demand of them to close their eyes against the 
visible danger, thinking, that they will have sufficient, 
time, to repair the mistake, which they are about to 
commit now ; some are indifferent and others are 
wholly unconcerned, saying : " Oh, pshaw ! Roman 
Catholics will never take possession of our country,'^ 
and flattering themselves, that Romanism is not a na- 
tive plant of America, and therefore, w^ll never grow 
here, or that the American Character will never adapt 
itself to the Romish system, for it is a religion full of 
superstition, error, immorality, and despotism, and the 
American people are too far advanced to permit the 
establishment of such religious absurdities. It is true, 
Romanism is not a native plant of America, but never- 



ONE DUCADU A PROTESTANT. 261 

theless, it is growing here very well, for it is cultiva- 
ted with great care. Why do so many Americans, 
particularly young ladies, in seminaries, exchange 
their protestant religion, for that of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church in our days ? are you aware of this fact ? Are 
you ready to answer ? A potatoe is not a native plant 
of Europe, and yet it is growing well on European 
soil, because there it is cultivated well. A nightin- 
gale is not a native bird of America, and yet, after its 
journey, it sings here admirably w^ell, because Ameri- 
.cans admire the gray and beautiful singer ; buy fine 
new cages ; build even costly aviaries for pairing, and 
feed and treat them well. And I tell you, these gray- 
dressed monks are singing melodiously in their largo 
cathedrals, and will soon overfill the whole country, 
because they find here a new, free and fertile soil, and 
everything, to suit their plans and notions. School- 
houses after school-houses, are erected in catholic 
communities ; the walls covered with maps of the 
world, and pictures of the Saints ; the floor filled with 
iron-framed desks, and a corps of male and female 
Jesuits have undertaken to teach our children the his- 
tory of the United States, and political science ; they 
say prayers unto the Saints, and sing praises to Mary 
at the opening of their schools, and the close of their 
exercises. 

I. 

" Daily, daily, sing to Mary, 
Sing my soul, her praises due 
All her feasts, her actions worship, 
With the heart's-devotion true, 



262 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Lost in wondering contemplation, 
Be her majesty confess'd ; 
Call her mother, call her Virgin, 
Happy mother, Virgin bless'd. 



All my senses, heart, affections. 
Strive to sound her glory forth. 
Spread abroad the sweet memorials. 
Of the Virgin's priceless worth. 
Where the voice of wonder thrilling. 
Where the tongue of eloquence. 
That can utter hymns beseeming. 
All her matchless excellence. 

This revival of a papal claim of divine right to 
educate the young, is only a part of the great papal 
revival of the claim to control the minds of all men, 
and thus to direct all their affairs. It is the most mo- 
mentous event of our times, and demands serious con- 
sideration. During the dark ages, the priests con- 
trolled the education of the world, and gave laws to its 
rulers and people ; kingdoms trembled before the 
pope's interdict, Avhich closed the churches; forbade 
the marriage of the living and the burial of the dead, 
and assembled the armies of the faithful to exterminate 
the heretics, he had cursed. It was perdition to live 
in the same city with excommunicates. For instance 
the general, commanding the Crusaders' army at the 
massacre of Beziers inquired of the pope's legate, how 
his men could distinguish the catholics from the here- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 263 

tics, and received this reply : " Kill them all, the Lord 
knoweth them that are His.'^ 

Americans, will you have your children educated 
in schools of popery, to prepare them for the great 
massacres of our own country ? The pope is to-day, 
as in former times, the vicar of Christ, only clad with 
higher endowments, since the proclamation of his per- 
sonal infalibility. To-day, the pope intends to dic- 
tate the religious and political creeds, to regulate the 
conduct and rule the governments of the people of 
Christendom ; that he is not able to do so now, is only a 
matter of time. Now he regards himself supreme 
over emperors and kings, and presidents and people, 
catholics as well as protestants. Catholics belong to 
his domain by birth, protestants by their religious in- 
feriority. The pope directs the cardinals, the cardi- 
nals direct the bishops, the bishops direct the parish 
priests and confessors, the confessors direct the con- 
science of every man and woman in all affairs of love 
and marriage, of business and pleasure, of leases and 
legacies, and all the political movements are guided by 
the priests. That is the power of infallibility and ed- 
ucation, of blind obedience and religious caste. And 
although the pope cannot actually execute his law and 
regulation in our country, he nevertheless possesses it 
already to some extent. In the plenitude of his arro- 
gance, the pope pretended the right to bestow the 
kingdoms of the earth upon whomsoever he pleased, 
without the slightest regard to the will or welfare of 
the people. Thus he sold the sovereignty of Ireland 
to Henry II, of England, without any authority from 



26i SIJT YEARS A PRIEST 



the Irish people. If English dominion is now op- 
pressive to Irish people, they have the pope to thank 
for it. In like manner he sold this whole continent of 
America, to Spain, planting missions along all the^ 
coats under the Spanish flag, and claiming to this day 
the supreme control of North and South America, 
California included. These claims the pope never re- 
linquished. Although the French Revolution melted 
down silver Saints into money to pay the soldiers, 
made the pope prisoner, established the code ••' Napo- 
leon,^' instead of a Canon law, bursted open the In- 
quisition, and exhibited its horrors in broad day light, 
to the world's hatred, and although the results of the 
revolutions, from 1848 to 1866, culminating in the 
overthrow of Napoleonism, at Sedan, in 1870, and the 
establishment of the French Republic, swept away the 
last vestiges of political popery ; nevertheless, the 
priests resumed their old pretensions as soon as the 
smoke cleared from the battle-fields, endeavoring to re- 
gain dictatorship, from which they had been hurled, 
and to rekindle the fires of Inquisition. Since the first 
French Revolution, there have been several periods 
when it seemed that the reign of priests and popes was 
ended, and yet their regiment is daring and insulting- 
at this hour, not to overthrow the established consti- 
tutions of the people, in catholic or protestant coun- 
tries at once, but to draw their spiritual forces nearer 
and nearer to a culminating point of inevitable medi- 
aeval collisions. 

Indeed, it is surprising, that these priests should' 
again attempt to urge their claims to control the humane 



OJS'E DECADE A PROTESTANT. 265 

mind, by the thrice rejected evidences of arrogant de- 
mands and exploded superstitions — winking Madonnas, 
sacred hearts, pilgrimages and indulgencies, which 
' God will destroy. 

But in this very superstition, is the stronghold of 
the catholic priesthood, among their people, till this 
day, and the priests know it, too. 

However, there is much more likelihood of success 
from the plan adopted here in America ; the plan of 
obtaining control of the education of the young, the 
future voters, who will in a few years govern the 
country. Americans have not had much experience 
yet, outside of New-York, Cincinnati, Boston and St. 
Louis, of the power of priests in politics, and of the 
miseries of priestly tyranny, and so had but little op- 
portunity of being suspicious of such intrigues ; so 
that the priests perceived, that they only need a few 
years longer the indifference of the American people, 
to insure success. Like the spider, that early in the 
morning and late in the evening, is Aveaving its web 
in very fine, nearly invisible threads, lying in ambus- 
cade during the sunny day, in order to catch its vic- 
tims, so is the priest spinning the threads of his Jesu- 
istical net for the imprisonment and death of the 
American people ; watching wilily and catching con- 
stantly. They calculate largely upon the indifference 
and shortsightedness of those among the American 
people, who do not profess to be members of any 
protestant denomination, or upon our avarice, insult- 
ingly alleging, that the only religion of a protestant, 
is the worship of the almighty Dollar. 



^66 SIX YEARS A FRIES T; 

I wish, they would mistake the calmness of con- 
scious strength, for indifference. But yet, the declara- 
tions of hostility to our Republican institutions, by 
the pope and his American agents, have been so plain 
and emphatic, and repeatedly pronounced, that we 
cannot avoid hearing them. Their assaults upon our 
common schools, and their attempts at recent elections 
to control the most sacred right of the American citi- 
zens, — that of freely depositing our ballots without 
the intimidation of authority ; either money-lords or 
priesthood have been so general all over the Union, 
that the most unwilling have become convinced, that 
the pope's declarations are by no means empty 
words. Nothing less, than supreme dominion over the 
consciences of the citizens and the government of the 
country, will satisfy the priests of Rome here, in 
America to- day. 

How often did I hear, during my priestly adminis- 
tration, from my superiors, be kind to protestants ; 
try to win them over to our church, but above all, en- 
deavor to obtain their children ; if their parents are not 
able to pay tuition, and for books, admit them with- 
out any charge to your parochial school, for we must 
take hold of the hearts of the children, and the parents 
will follow their lambs by and by. 

You may rely upon it, Americans, when such men 
as Bismark, Cavour, Garibaldi, Gladstone, and others, 
invoke against the papal claim of supremacy, all the 
experience of history, all the weapons of reasons all 
the restraints of legislation, exposing themselves to the 
dangers of assassination, by hired or fanatically insti- 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 26T 

gated plots, and the certainty of every kind of Jesuis- 
tical hostility, they see something more than a mere 
dogmatic presumption and absurdity in the present 
controversy among the protestant and catholic clergy. 
It is not a mere quarrel among the clergy about some 
theological dogma, but they foresee a danger threaten- 
ing the liberty and prosperity of their respective coun- 
tries, and otherwise, raise the alarm in season, that the 
fire of a disastrous conflagration may be still prevent- 
ed ; for " prevention is better than cure/^ Happily 
in America, prevention is still possible, since the peo- 
ple generally have not consented to the pope's preten- 
sions, nor surrendered the ballot-box, and the school 
in which we educate the future voters, into the hands 
of the priests. Protestants, sustain your public school 
system, by all means ; perfect it where it is imperfect I 
For the National Government is based upon the axiom 
— that the Republican Constitution draws the strongest 
support from the intelligence and education of her 
citizens. Ah ! that pen of protestant learning is 
stronger than a host of catholic armies. Protestant 
America does know it ! Therefore, the school goes 
with their immigrants, as a true companion and friend, 
hand in hand, for wherever new settlements are form- 
ed, instantly schools are organized, and for their sup- 
port, State-endowments furnished. And here we may 
safely predict, that in this very fact, America's future 
greatness is founded. Science and Art, Language and 
Literature, are necesary to the development of human 
culture ; it is the guide in affairs of society and com- 



268 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

merce, the principal vehicle of all success, and the 
source of individual and national prosperity. 

And I hope, that soon all the States in our Union 
may see the importance of common education ; be- 
cause ignorance in our present age, since the great 
social and political transformations in our Republic 
have taken place, is a great evil, and will cause much 
distress to our Republican government, unless it is 
remedied as soon as possible. Society and States have 
changed in such a way, as to make different demands 
upon the individual, from those of former times. But 
ignorance and w^eakness of mind, are above all help- 
less to choose their proper remedies. Directing intel- 
ligence alone can choose the proper means for the 
elevation of society, and it alone can enforce it. 
Popular self-government is resting on intelligent 
voters. The elector must be able to understand and 
obey the law, made to govern him, and he must like- 
wise be able to make the law. 

We need compulsory education, for educating the 
masses. Catholics have in their parish-schoob, a com- 
pulsory education, and you, as American citizens, 
must have it, too ; you are bound by circumstances, 
or not having it, you will reap the disadvantages of it 
in the end. Let us pay due attention to this matter 
in due time, Americans, I was not born on your sacred 
soil, but I love it, and I love your political and reli- 
gious Constitutions and organizations, and I believe 
myself, prepared to prove, that the introduction of 
compulsory Education into your Public Schools will 
no more interfere with the laws of your Republican 



ONE DECADE A FEOTESTANJT, 269 

Liberty, than the adoption of foreigners into American 
citizenship, or the emancipation of Africans, and their 
equality in white men's society. Foreign educators 
perceive only one principal error in the American 
Free-school system, namely : that it is not compulsory, 
in order to force neglectful, indifferent, and ignorant 
parents and guardians, who emigrated from less civil- 
ized countries, to send their children to public schools. 
As in regard to the division of Public School-funds 
between protestant and Catholic sectarian schools, we 
do not need to mention, that protestant America can 
never submit to it, without injuring its own cause, and 
losing even its final existence. 

The State of -New Jersey has set a laudable exam- 
ple before us, in passing a law, that sectarian schools, 
shall not be permitted to feed upon Public School- 
funds. The standard of American State Universities, 
and Protestant Institutions, must favorably compare 
with those of the Jesuits and Catholics. And in order 
to accomplish this, Ave need means and endowments, 
particularly in our protestant Colleges and Academies. 
Oh, ye men of means, whom the Lord has blessed so 
abundantly, and who are situated so comfortably in 
this world, and w^ho are spending so liberally for politi- 
cal purposes, and pouring out your money like water, 
remember your protestant Institutions during the year 
1876, in your centennial donations, that the blessed 
Republic of the American people may find a fair op- 
portunity of rooting deeper and deeper in science and 
prosperity, during the New Century, so that no Catho- 
lic hurricane will be able to move her solid foundation. 



270 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

Your protestant Colleges will be the bulwarks and 
strongest fortifications against the alarming progress 
of Romanism in this country. No doubt, catholic 
friends in your community, called upon you to help 
them build their churches, school-houses, hospitals, and 
convents, and you assisted them gladly ; but, let me 
tell you, my dear protestants, under circumstances, it 
has become your most solemn duty now, to erect lite^ 
rary and scientific walls for your own safety, both for 
your religious and national prosperity. Keep also 
the Bible in your schools. Without religion, any 
school must be a failure in the end. And to read only 
a few verses of a Bible lesson in your public schools 
every morning, is little enough of religion. Without 
the Bible, children will never learn obedience to their 
teachers, and subjection to their parents. The hound 
of an infidel, who prefers on Sundays a partridge 
chase in the woods, to a religious sermon in the house 
of God, can be trained for its profession by the knots 
of a whip, but the child of an infidel cannot be edu- 
cated for a really useful member of human society, 
without the letters of the Bible, and for this reason let 
it have a taste of this precious Book in the nursery of 
common education. Your opponent does know too 
well, what he is about and driving at. He reads the 
catechism Avith his pupils in his parish schools, every 
day ; why should you, as protestants, be so blind as 
not to see and understand, that you are obliged to meet 
your enemy, either with equal arms, or be unequally 
situated in the great battle, that is going on between 
Roman Catholics and American Protestants, and be 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 271 

defeated at last. The Bible is the structure of the 
public schools ; is the corner-stone. The architect, 
who put this corner-stone in the house, is God, my 
friends. I tell you the word of God is the architect, 
the foundation, the pillars, the cap-stone of the great 
common school system, and there shall be no political 
nor denominational power on earth, or in hell, to expel 
it. No, to take the Book out, that Book, which was 
put in the school three thousand years ago, when the 
Jewish nation and all the schools of the Jews were 
under the visible direction of the Almighty, to aban- 
don it, to take it out ; the best Book, the only Book, 
by which our children learn obedience to God and man ; 
by which we educate them for usefulness in this world, 
and glory in the world to come. I, as a minister of God, 
and a servant in his vineyard, protest against it, and 
all ministers of religion and faithful laymen, of dif- 
ferent denominations, 'and in different churches, have 
joined the party against Roman intruders. 

But the Roman Catholic Church is opposed to the 
system of common schools itself, not exactly to the 
3ible in common schools. The man who does not un- 
derstand this, is almost one hundred years behind the 
times. The pope of Rome, in 1864, issued a decree, that 
Roman Catholic families in this country should take 
their children out of the public schools, and put them 
in the parochial schools, and some of the bishops de- 
clared, that unless this injunction were obeyed, funeral 
rites would not be performed for those families who 
kept their children in the public schools. I state this 
to show, that the Roman Catholics have no direct 

18 



272 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

hostility to the Bible in the schools ; it is rather 
against the style of the school itself. Archbishop 
Hughes, of New-York, declared: ''That the common 
school of this country was a hot-bed of infidelity and 
loose morals.'^ 

The '' Tablet," and the •' Freeman's Journal," set 
forth this same idea. We read in the " Freeman's Jour- 
nal:" ''That it is not on account of these admirable Bible 
lessons, and these alone, that we object to the public 
schools. We will not subject our catholic children to 
your teachers ; we will not expose our catholic children 
to associate with all the children, who have a right to 
attend the public schools. In short, they endeavor to 
destroy our public school-system, for the purpose of 
ruining our Republican institutions, and erecting the 
pillars of Roman education and popish dominion upon 
the ruins of the American Independence." 

Americans, may that day never come, that the 
schools, which are your pride, shall become your 
shame ! Now, a monster is crossing the sea, danger- 
ous to our fathers' liberty. A dark cloud is rising on 
the religious horizon ; hear its distant roaring power ; 
and be not blind to its electric flashing fire ! Shut the 
w^indows of your houses, close the doors with iron bolts, 
and bring your family and property in safety within ; 
religious hurricanes draw nearer with great rapidity ! 
What must we do to resist and conquer ? Must we 
meet them on the bloody battle-field, or by persecu- 
tions and inquisitions ? Never ! never ! Martyrdom 
has always proved to be a fruitful seed. Besides, the 
Lord said to Peter : " Put thy sword up into the sheath, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 273 

for it is -written, ' that he, who uses the sword, shall 
perish by the sword. '^ But you answer : " They may 
attack me, and shall I not defend myself?" Most 
certainly ! for self-defense is a legal and even a moral 
act. Americans, professors of protestantism, I be- 
seech you, do not commence, that great religious, 
Hoody strife, but prepare for it; it may not be faroflf! 

Protestant America may yet meet her catholic op- 
ponent, by science and arguments, by unity and con- 
cord, in all its branches. Support your public school- 
system ; erect Colleges and Universities ; build Hos- 
pitals and Orphan Asylums ; churches, beautiful and 
costly, for the glory of God ; read the Bible in educa- 
tional chapels, to the young ; increase your missions, 
multiply your societies and support them ; love the 
temperance cause ; lead a sober life ; pray without 
ceasing ; sustain your government ; above all, trust in 
the Lord, and be ye " One!'^ 

Lord give to the American Branch of the Evan- 
gelical Alliance, thy Holy Spirit, love and unity, suc- 
cess and great prosperity. Its prosperity is protest- 
antism's safety, and America's political and ecclesias- 
tical glory, I see, how protestantism, is unanimously 
T^attling with Roman Catholicism. I see, how the 
Presbyterian infantry is attacking them ; how the 
Methodist cavalry is pursuing them ; how the Episco- 
palians and Lutherans are receiving them with their 
hig cannons : " Bomb," ^'Bomb ;" and how our Baptist 
hrethren are lying in ambuscade, to draw them all, that 
should escape, into their baptismal river. 



CEAPTEB XVIII. 
MISCELLANY. 1 §. License: authority ani> 

DUTY OF A CATHOLIC PRIEST. 

JOANNJES EENRICUS, Dei Et Apostolicae Sedis 
Gratia. Episcopus Wayne — Castrensis, Reverende 
Gullihelmo F. Holz^ sive Wold Salutem in Domino. 

Tua^ Reverende Domine virtute^ doctrina et pru- 
dentia fldentes committimus tihi facultates sequentes^ 
valituras ad revocationem usque^ sed nan exercendcs 
intra limites parochiae sen districtus alteri sacerdoii 
commissi^ nisi ex ejus consensu prius hahito ; secluso 
tamen casu necessitatis : 

1. Administrandi omnia sacramenta^ Confirma^ 
tione et Or dine exceptis, 

2. Audiendi Confessiones fidelium utriusque 
sexus ; Confessiones andiantur cum superpellicio et 
stola^ sed nulierum confessiones extra casum infirmita' 
tis solummodo per crates. '' Prohihemus autem sub 
poena suspensionis ah omni exercitio ordinis^ ipso facto 
incurrendae^ ne quis Sac er do s sive Regular is sive Saecu- 
laris a nobis aut Vicario nostro Generali ad excipien- 
das confessiones non approhatus^ aut cujus approbatio 
revocata fuerit^ illi-ministerio ingenere se praesumaty 
extra casum necessitatis y Idem dicendum de admin- 
istratione aliorum sacramentorum. 




THE AUTHOR 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 275 

3. Ahsolvendi ah haeresi et apostasia a fide ^ et a 
schismate^ etiam ecclesiasticos^ tarn saeculay^es^ quam 
regulares^ injuncta tamen salutari poenitentia^ quae ad 
scandalum reparandum visa fuerit necessaria, 

4. Ahsolvendi ah omnihus casihus Sedi Apostoli- 
cae reservatis etiam in Bulla Goenae Domini contentis ; 
numquam tamen ahsolvendi complicem in peccato con- 
tra Sextum praeceptum^ vel eum^ qui complicem ahsol- 
verit, 

5. Dispensandi quoad Ordinum jam susceptorum 
exercitiem^ in quihuscumque irrcgularit atihus^ exceptis 
illis^ quae vel ex higamia vera^ vel ex homicidio volun- 
tario proveniunt, 

6. Dispensandi et commutandi^ vota simplicia in 
aliapia opera, et dispensandi ex rationahili causa in votis 
simpUcihus castitatis et religionis ; exceptis votis quae 
in societatihus religionis sive virorum sive mulierum in 
nostra dioecesi^ emittuntur existentihus. 

7. Dispensandi super impedimento puhlicae hones- 
tatis justis^ exsponsalihus loroveniente, 

8. Dispensandi in impedimento criminis^ neutro ta- 
men conjugum machinante^ ac restituendi jus petendi 
dehitum amissum, 

9. Dispensandi impedimento cognationis spiritu- 
alise praeterquam inter levantem et levatum, JETae 
vero dispensationes matrimoniales concedendae non 
sunt^ nisi cum clausula dumodo mulier rapta non 
fuerit^ vel si rapta fuerit^ in potestate raptoris non ex- 

istat : concedendae antem sunt gratis omnino, 

10. Dispensandi inter Catholicos tantum in 3 et 
4 gradu Consanguinitatis et Affinitatis simplici^ et in 



276 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

2, 3, et 4 mixtis gradihus^ non tamen in 2 solo quoad 
futura matrimoiiia ; quoad vero praelerita^ dlspensan- 
di in 2 5oZo, dummodo nullo modo attingat primum 
gradum^ cum iis^ qui ah haeresi vel infidelltate conver- 
tuntur adjidem Catholicam et in praefatls casihus^pro^ 
lem susceptam declarandi legitimam, 

11. Dispensandi a duahus proclamationibus Can- 
novum; in casu verae necessitatis etiam ah omnibus. 

12. Dispensandi^ quando expedlre videhitur^ super 
esucarnium^ ovorum^ et lacticiniorum,^ tempore jejunio- 
rum et quadragesimae. 

13. Benedicendi paramenta et alia utensilia ad 
sacrificium Missae necessaria^ ubi non inter venit sacra 
unctio ; etreconciliandi ecclesias polutas^ in casu nec- 
essitatis^ etiam aqua non benedicta ab JEpiscopo, 

14. Largiendi ter in anno Indulgentiam Plenariam^ 
contritis, confessis ac Sacra Communione refectis. 

15. Lucrandi sibi easdxm Indulgentias, 

16a. Concedendi Indulgentiam Plenariam^ prima 
conversis ab haeresi^ atque etiam fid elibus quibuscumqu& 
in articulo mortis^ saltern contritis^ si confiteri non po- 
terunt^ juxta formam^ in Rituali Ilomano praesciptam^ 

166. Singulis secundis feriis non impeditis festis 
novem lectionum^ vel eis impeditis^ die immediate sequ- 
enti^ celebrandi Jfissam De Uequie in quocumque aU 
tari etiam p or tatili^ cum privilegio indulgentiae plena -^ 
riae pro defunctis^ per modum suffragii^ 

17. Omittendi applicationem Missae pro eoruWr 
curae spirituali commissis in iis festis diebus^ quibus 
fideles ab obligatione andiendi^ Jfissam auctoritate apo-^ 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 277 

stolica soluti sunt ; pro quo tamen populo in iisdem 
Missis specialiter or are tenentur, 

18. Tenendi et legendi^ non tamen aliis concedendi^ 
libros ab Apostolica Sede prohibitos^ etiam contra reli- 
gionew. ex professo tractantes^ ad effectum eos impug- 
nandi in scriptis^ vel in voce; exceptis astrologicis^ju- 
diciariis^ superstitiosis ac obscenis ex professo, 

19. Celebrandi per unam horam ante auroram^ et 
aliam post meridiem^ sine ministro^ in loco tamen decenti^ 
etiamsi altare sitfractum^ vel sine reliquiis sanctorum^ 
et praesentibus haereticis^ schismatiscis^ injidelibus^ et 
excommunicatis. 

20. Deferendi Sanctissimum Sacrametnum occulte 
ad infirmos sine lumine^ illudque sine eodem retinendi 
pro eisdem injirmis^ in loco tamen decenti. 

21. Becitandi Bosarium^ si divinum oficium oh 
aliquod legitimum impedimentura recitarenon^ valeat, 

22. Becitandi privatim Matutinum cum Laudibus 
did sequentis statim elapsis duabus horis post meri- 
diem. 

23. Incedendi absque talari a Sacris Ganonibus 
praescripta^ ita tam^ ut vestes nigri coloris^ quarum ex- 
terior sit long a. juxta consuetudinem vigentem defer at\ 

24. Benedicendi coronas precatorias^ cruces^ et 
numismata^ eisque applicandi indulgentias juxta folium 
typis impressum ac insertum ; ac erigendi Confraterni-^ 
tatem de Monte Carmelo^ Sanctissimi Bosarii^ et Bonae 
Mortis ; nee non insiituendi pium exercitium Viae 
Crucis^ cum applicatione omnium indulgentiarum et 
privilegiorum quae Summi Pontifices praediclis confra- 



278 SIJC YEARS A PRIEST; 

ternitatihus et Viae Crucis exercitium peragentibus 
impertiti sunt, 

25. Celehrandi Missam cis in diehus festis si nec^ 
esse fuerit, 

26. Celebrandi Missam lee tarn de Bequie prae^ 
sente Cadavere in dupUeihus ; sed iis tantum casibus, 
in quibus cantores omnino deficiunt^ et exclusis festis 
duplicibus prima e vel secundae classis^ diebus dominicis 
autfestivis de praecepto^ nee nonferiis^ vigiliis octavis* 
que privilegiatis. 

27. Celebrandi Missam de Bequie bis in mense^ 
non obstante occurentia festi ritus duplicis, 

28.' Permittendi Catholicis sibi subjectis ut feriis 
sextis, Sabbatis^ aliisque diebus quibus carnium^ esus 
vetatur, Catholicis^ si in eorum mensa esse contigerit 
carnes praebere valeant^ dumodo tameu absit ecclesias- 
ticae legis contemjJtus^ et ejusmodi facultate sobrie mul- 
taque circumspectione utantur^ ne scandalum in Cathol- 
icos vel heterodoxos ingeratur. 

J^. B. Nulla dispensaHo petenda per Telegraph ; 
et ratio^ cur desidertur^ semper est exponenda. 

Datum, Fort Wayne^ sub Sigillo nostro die 27 ^a- 
sis^ Aug,^ A* D.^ 1860. 

f JOAITJSrES HEJSTBICUS^ 

JEJpus^ Wayne Castr, 

It will be seen, that " Wood" is either the corrup- 
tion of " Wold'' or the translation of " Solz.'' 

From the beginning of my priestly activity in 
America, I have been laboring among the Irish 
Catholics, who frequently called and addressed me 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 279 

*^ Father Wood/^ and thus it was, also, printed by 
mistake in the Circulars and Catalogues of the Quincy 
College, September, 1866, when I entered upon my 
duty as Professor of languages in that institution ; 
wherefore, afterwards, being called everywhere in that 
city, by the name of ^'Wood." I preferred, for uniform 
ity's sake, to submit to this alteration. 

2 §. License : IN the ministry of the m. e. church : 

This is to certify^ That Frederick W. Wood, has 
been admitted as a member of the West Virginia Con- 
ference, he having been ordained to the office of 
^^Elder,'^ according to the usages of the Roman Cath- 
olic Church, of which he has been a member and min- 
ister, and he is hereby authorized to exercise the 
functions appertaining to his office in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, so long as his life and conversation 
are such as become the Gospel of Christ. 

" Given under my hand and seal, at Wheeling, West 
Tirginia, this ninth day of March, in the year of our 
Lord, Que Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-Two. 

M. SIMPSON.'' 

New- York, August 30th, 1875. 

Professor E. W. Wood. — Dear Brother: I am 
Tery sorry you have been treated so rudely and wrong- 
fully, by the regents of the University. It is much 
better, however, to suffer wrong, than to do wrong. 
Pity and forgive those that wickedly treat you. • • • 
God does not forsake those that trust in Him. He 



280 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

" makes all things work together for good,'^ to them 
that love him. I pray that you may be guided and 
sustained, and blessed in your season of trial. 
YourSj fraternally in Jesus, 

E. S. JAMESo 

Dear Brother : You have just gone to receive your 
reward for your earthly trials and Episcopal labors,, 
which you have borne so faithfully and carried out so 
meritoriously ; you are in the company of the Good 
Shepherd ; oh, that we may all lead such a christian 
life as you have done, and doubtless we will meet you, 
when our earthly trials will have passed away, at the 
throne of Glory. Never could man bestow upon me 
a kinder act, than those regents, because it has brought 
me so near unto Christ, that I feel Him constantly 
hovering about me, and that He is dwelling in my poor 
cottage of sin, day and night. But ye, legislators of 
State and Nation, cannot anything be done, to pre- 
vent party quarrels in our Public Institutions ? If it 
can, please do it, to remove the most damaging imped- 
iments in our educational departments. 

Rev, and dear Mr. Wood: Remain steadfast ia 
faith. • • • • Yours, in Christ, 

Nov. 10th, 1866. N. N. 

P. S. By Mr. R. I drank only four small glasses 
of wine ; perhaps four and a half, all the afternoon, 
because he urged me very much. I would not have 
come to his house, if the train had not left me 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 281 

behind ; but it bad gone, and I met him accidentally on 
the street, and as he persisted, that I should go with 
him, and had to remain somewhere anyhow, I ac- 
companied him to his house. Yet, I do not desire to 
have another lesson from you on this subject. 

A certain priest, of superior standing, had been 
drinking a little freely, in my congregation, during my 
absence from home, and in calling his attention to the 
scandal he ha'd given, particularly to the protestant 
citizens of the Community, he wished me to drop the 
matter. Two-thirds of the Catholic priests, even the 
bishops included, may preach temperance before their 
people and the public, but they do not practice it 
themselves. One-third of the priests are drunkards ; 
another third like to sip, however, endeavor to hide 
their sins in hypocritical corners ; one-half of the re- 
maining third speak violently against intemperance in 
the Church and society, but are not able to do it en- 
tirely without intoxicating beverages, and only one- 
sixth of the whole may be in full earnest about this 
matter ; that is to say, as far as their position in the 
ministry will allow it. 

A catholic friend of mine, in M., Elkhart County, 
Indiana, in his numerous letters from 1868 to 1875, 
addressed to me, uses about this language : " Since 
you. Rev. Father, left us, we had six or seven priests^ 
and all are alike, except one ; they all like whiskey 
better than honesty. We do not go to the church 
any more at all, neither I nor wife, nor children, but 
we worship at home ; please call to see us." 



282 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

In a letter of the 12th of January, 1868, he says : 
" Our priest S., abused me terribly : he called me a 
lialf devil/' but I replied : '' If I were a half devil, he 
was a whole one/' He told me then, " I should go to 
hell!" I answered him : "That I thought I might, 
for I was afraid, that he was showing us the way/* 
This may suffice you to see, how it stands with us at 
present. 

Cincinnati, 16th December, 1863. 

Rev, Dear Sir : Take what is voluntarily oiFered 
to you, and even from persons in the Congregation, of 
the clergyman to whom you gave such a sharp lesson. 

Tours, truly, 
J. B. PURCELL, Archb., Cincinnati. 

At this time, I was soliciting means for my poor 
Irish congregations in Indiana, being authorized by 
the Archbishop of Cincinnati, to do so in the city, but 
one of his General Vicars, a countryman and friend of 
mine, opposed my attempts at success, thinking, that 
the Irish Catholics were a low set of drunkards, and 
did not deserve to be helped. The Archbishop found 
out by some means, that my German friend, a venera- 
ble veteran, and I a young recruit, had pretty lively 
debates on the nationalities of this country, he con- 
demning severely, and I defending faithfully, as their 
pastor, the Irish characters, (my congregational Pats, 
of course), and for this reason, I suppose. His Episco- 
pal Dignitary forwarded to me those lines. 

However, the sooner nationalities in this country 
cease, the better it will be for the American Unity. 



ONl^ DECADE A PROTESTANT. 28a 

Our patriotic citizens have nothing against the study 
of German, French, and Spanish, because we live ia 
an age, where the telegraphs of the sea, the engines of 
the continent, the balloons in the air, and the imme- 
diate communications of the nations of the earth de- 
mand the promotion of language and progress, but 
they are justly opposed to that pernicious habit, which 
prevails in sectarian schools of large cities, and reli- 
gious settlements, to make the "• English'^ entirely 
subordinate to the foreign element. Why ! — These 
large local settlements in their sectarian bigotry, may 
one day become dangerous fortifications against 
American Nationality, and the nurseries of secession- 
ists and revolutionists. 

November 17th, 1867. 
Rev. Mr. Wood : — 

Because you speak in your lastletter about visiting 
your old friend, he is rejoicing now, and very gay 
again. But forgive him his neglect in not writing to 
you sooner, and his whim of being so changeable and 
melancholy, and speak, also, a good word for him to 

your dear little wife, telling her. that J cannot 

come immediately to see his friends on account of 
pastoral business, but that he will sit down, put on a 
pleasant countenance, write her a pretty nice little 
letter in English, however, hoping, that the Mr. Papa 
will not become jealous of him. I know, that you 

will say, good for J , write all you want, ancient 

friend. Please forgive him that he is entirely lost for 
society ; in case he should offer you his hand to the 



284 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

pledge of an obligation, that he will write oftener, and 
use these long winter evenings to correspond with you, 
you will forgive him, won't you? Come without any 
fear to visit me ; none of my catholics will lay hands 
on you, and you and I, and also my N., who sends his 
kindest regards to you, will together pass over the 
Brockenberg. 

Now and forever. 

Your Old Friend. 

This former fellow-priest wrote me in several of 
his letters, that he and others intended to leave the 
Church of Rome ; H. and many others are heretics in 
their own Church, for he, who is incredulous in one 
thing, is guilty of all, according to their own teach- 
ings. And these tAvo hundred bishops, who opposed 
four years ago, the infallibility of the pope, voted 
against it, and finally submitted, because they did not 
wish to be hurled from the Church by an excommuni- 
cation bull, and lose their lucrative position, are never- 
theless nothing more nor less than unbelievers and 
heretics. Their thoughts, arguments, and convictions 
of mind on this subject, have not changed the least 
particle on this subject; they see the sun of truth and 
righteousness, but cover their faces with the palm of 
their hands, that seeing they may not see. How can 
you escape the wrath of a catholic God ? 

March 2nd, 1874. 

Dear Friend: I rejoice evermore, that you and 
your wife are well. How are your children ? • ' • 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 285 

Several of our priests are dead, others have left for 
ihe convent. • • • Present to your wife my kind- 
est regards. I am waiting for an invitation for christ- 
ening your children. Write me or see me personally. 
JMy church is at H. Street. My residence is No . 

Antiquus amicus tuus, 

^N. N. 

Why did those priests go to the convent ? because 
ihey did not keep the state of celibacy. I know of a 
young priest, who had three wives in the course of 
ihree years in his holy state of celibacy, and to-day 
Tie walks with his bishop arm in arm in the Church of 
Christ. Celibacy is a ruin to the Church of Rome, 
and a shame to the civilized world. 

My dear friends, of the catholic ministry, leave 
the temple of impurity ; if you remain there you will 
ibe damned. Leave your Church, be married, and 
lead a life of purity in married state. The pope's 
teaching, that it is better for a priest to have two con- 
cubines, than marry one woman lawfully, will not ex- 
cuse your acts of debauchery, and save your souls 
from condemnation. 

God will not save debauchers, drunkards, and cor- 
rupters of Christianity. Dying, you may take with 
you on your journey to heaven, a whole bushel of 
relics, a barrel filled with holy water, an " agnus Dei^ 
around your neck, a body anointed with ten pounds 
of chrism, a rosary on each finger, and a papal indul- 
gence bound to each hair on your head, to keep ofi* the 
devil, his companions and all their power ; it will do 



286 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

you no good, if you have cherished the dens of iniqui- 
ty during the days of your holy priesthood upon 
earth. Peter, marvelling at your nonsense, will say : 
" nescio vos :^' "I do not know you;" you have per- 
verted redemption into superstition. 

These number of letters might be largely increased^ 
yet this will suffice for the present. 

ADVICE : 

To those catholic young men, who Msited me 
during my lecture tours, asking : " Sir, what must we 
do to be saved?" I reply : " Believe in Bible truths, 
and pray, cast off superstitions, and obey ; repent, 
love God and your neighbor with all your heart ; avoid 
sin ; practice temperance, be virtuous." 

To those two protestant youths, the one of 
P., Pa., and the other of C, 0., who wrote to me 
some time ago, desiring to know, if they could marry 
conscientiously, a catholic girl, I answer, ''marry 
them,^' but not by a catholic priest, or you will have to 
lead a life of misery, for he will never leave, your 
threshhold, before you have joined his flock, your in- 
fants have been baptized in his baptismal font, and the 
country robbed of protestant heirs. 

" Watch the Jesuits, to prevent the robbery of 
your families, the moral assassination of your sons 
and daughters. 0, good Americans, do you suppose 
they are working for America's glory ? They work 
for themselves and Rome alone." Beware of Auri- 
cular confession ! 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT, 28T 

" Auricular confession is said to be a religious in- 
stitution, but practically it is made in astute hands, a 
political instrument, Master of the secrets, of the con-^ 
science, of the soul of his penitent ; the priest is a 
more effective tool of despotism, than armed legions." 

GAVAZZL 

KEEP THE SUPERIORITY OF SCIENCE IN YOUR HANDS. 

Protestants, if you will reach the goal in the 
scientific race, and obtain the palm of fame, continue 
to love and cultivate '' Literature, Art and Science.'^ 
The oars, the rudders, the stern, and the whole vessel 
of scientific superiority has passed away from the- 
hands of the Romanists in the last two centuries, and 
has been placed by Providence in your Sanctuary ;. 
watch, and keep this noble faculty of a favoring Di- 
vinity. Oh, Rome ! where are thy poets and painters,, 
thy Statesmen and Doctors, in Germany, England,, 
New-England States and Canada ? 

BE HONEST, FRUGAL AND BENEVOLENT, 

Be honest, that Aristide's period may return, and 
the public funds be invoked to pay the burial expen- 
ses of irreproachable legislators. Be honest, ye 
editors and writers, do not expose the public men of 
the nation, whose life is pure, whose deeds are just ; 
do not exaggerate the crimes of those who fail, for 
here is the weak and vulnerable point of Republican 
governments. It might lead to a funeral service of a. 
great nation. Have a heart for poverty, that every 

19 



288 SIX YEARS A PRIEST; 

ricli individual may patch the torn coat of some 
wretchj and feed the children of some unfortunate 
mother, when the snow-flakes fall, and the Boreas 
roars ; and in doing so, we may expect, that the public 
will remember him, w^hen the lightning scoots down 
destructively upon his warehouses, consumes walls and 
contents and levels all his fortunes to a heap of ashes; 
that the American lady may freely study the lesson- 
books of economy and impress it daily upon her 
children's minds. May humanity and honesty rule 
everywhere, confidence erect its throne ; may Heaven 
be our . light, Providence our guide. Patriotism our 
pride. May he. who first attempts secession, be cruci- 
fied, for secession of States is the creation of King- 
-doms, princes, and despotic tyrants. Be ye honest, 
frugal and benevolent ! 

TEMPERANCE. 

Drunkenness is a great evil in our country and 
anywhere. The women, indeed, deserve great credit 
for their faithful labor in this noble cause, and I Ayish, 
"they would never get disheartened at ruffians' insults. 
However, it is w^rong, when a man is suspended, by 
accident, on a tree, and so situated that he may in- 
stantly lose his life, when in this crisis of life, five 
.strong men being present, to rescue the sufferer, a 
sixth one hurries to the scene, crying aloud, with su- 
perhuman strength : " Stop, I will save him, I will 
save," confusing somewhat those who might save him. 
Intemperance, we trust, will be rectified in this nation, 



ONE DECADE A PROTESTANT. 289 

Ibut it requires time. That suspended man must be 
saved in an instant, or he will lose his life. Here are 
two duties in coUisionj as it seems. Men of tempe- 
rance, I advise you, save that suspended man first ; 
the Union will be very grateful unto you. The tem- 
perance division may bring some confusion in your 
own ranks. That rescued man will be thankful for 
your services, and no doubt assist you in rectifying the 
dangerous loop-hole of intemperance. 

DULLNESS OF TIMES. 

Frequently we hear people complain about the 
dullness of times. Dullness of times is a blessing to 
this nation. God's will, it is not the fault of the 
people, neither of the Republican or the Democratic 
party, but the necessary result of a bloody war. — 
Mistoria, 

MAKE AMERICA WHAT IT OUGHT TO BE. 

The American people are destined to be the greatest 
of all nations, if legislators, doctors of science, minis- 
ters of morals and the hands of industry, make it so ; 
on the other hand, it will be the greatest curse to 
humanity, a blot on the pages of history, if discord of 
nationality or superstition of Christianity should ever 
gain the Supremacy. 

PINIS. 



^uhlwhe/B ^atice. 



All information gladly given to Authors in 

regard to Printing or Publishing Books of all 

descriptions. 

Respectfully^ 

CROCKER'S JPUBLISSIKG SOVSJE. 



AT THE CLOSE OF THE 

GREAT CENTENNIAL YEAR 

We find our little Sabbath Joy, 






Published once a month, and with its 

BRIGHT PICTURES AND EASY READING, 

Asks to be permitted to visit 

THE VERY LITTLE PEOPLE, 

Especially those of our Infant Schools. 

TERMS: 

One copy ^ Postage pre-paid^ - - - - - - $.30 

Ten copies, " - - 2.0O 

One hundred copies, Postage pre-paid, _ _ > _ 19.00 
Liberal reduction to Mission Sunday Schools. 

(The law requires that the postage on periodicals be pre-paid.) 

We shall endeavor to make the paper interesting and instructive 

to older persons as well as the young. The whole 

of the following month's 

INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS, 

And a treatise thereon, will be given for the older scholars and 

. teachers to study up in advance, on the coming 

Sunday's lessons. 

SENTD FOR SFJBCIMEN COFIES. 

Crocker's Publishing House, 



ic 



THE SABBATH BELL," 



A neat little i6 mo. volume of over two hundred pages, printed 
in large, clear type, without music. 

Bound in Cloth, 30 cents each, or $25.00 per hundred. 
Bound in Pasteboard and Paper, Cloth Back, 25 cents each, or $20.00 
per hundred. 

Greater reduction on larger quantities, 

THE HYMNS MOST USED 

In all the late publications for the Sabbath Schools of this 

country, 

CAN BE FOUND IN THIS COLLECTION. 

We have re-published this book at the request of several Sab- 
bath School Superintendents of this and other cities^ 
being, as they think, one of the 

Jttost Complete Collections of Sunday School Hymns 

Now in the market. 
Just the thing for your Chapel or Mission Schools. 

CROCKER'S PUBLISHING HOUSE, 

CLBV^I^AND, OHIO, 



li 



JOTTINGS BY THE WAYSIDE," 



:bij cnocKJEM's :pubzisje[ing sousjs. 

This work has been purchased hy the House, and is now in 
press, and the completion of the book is looked forward to with 
great interest bj those who know the Author, and have seen some 
newspaper sketches taken from the manuscript from time to time. 

It is written from the diary of one of" the Pilgrims of the 
" Quaker City " expedition, that left our shores seven years ago 
for Europe and the Holy Land ; the same one that Mark Twain 
accompanied, and on which afterwards wrote his book, "Innocents 
Abroad." which is well known by every household in our land. 

The diary was kept on ship-board and land, by diligence 
iind on horse-back ; in fact all the notable things on a jour-ney of 
thousands of miles through France, Spain, Italy; and even 
■through the busy, crowded city of Cairo, to one of the most cel- 
-ebrated wonders of the world, the Pyramids of Egypt ; and their 
return visit to Russia, there being met by the Emperor and his 
Staff at a private reception given in his palace at Yalta. 

The book cantains about six hundred pages, and is finely 
-illustrated. 

Bound in cloth, $2.50; in Morocco, $3.00, postage included. 



SIX YEARS A PRIEST, 

A DECADE A PROTESTANT. 

BY F. w, woon. 

As the book contains matters of great importance, and almost 
every sentence presents deep thoughts and profitable arguments 
for the American public, we are hardly able to decide what pass- 
age of his valuable work we shall present to our readers and sub- 
scribers, for the purpose of inducing the American people to place 
it by the side of their lamily Bible. The book is written for Pro- 
testantism as an Evangelical body of Christ's holy religion upon 
earth, and also designed to be read by the intelligent and liberal 
class of the Roman Ctaholic Church. It is a book for men who 
profess religion, and to such who are not members of any church,, 
for patriots and revolutionists; in one word, for all. 

A 12mo Stamped in Cloth, $1.50, Post Paid. 

The work will be published in German at some future time. 

Crocker's Publishing House, 

Cleveland, 0; 

AGBNTS WANTED. 



"CATHOLICISM II EUROPE AM AMERICA," 

By FJRED, W, WOOD, 

Is the title of a work embodjing the 

VIEWS OF DIFFERENT AUTHORS, 

Now being compiled, and will follow the book entitled " Six Years 

a Priest, a Decade a Protestant." The appearance 

of this work is awaited with 

GREAT AND MANIFEST INTEREST. 



It will contain about five hundred pages, and will give a more 
general history, and the 



WORKINGS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 

And being more valuable as 

A BOOK OF REFERENCE AND STUDY, 

Than any work heretofore published on this subject. 
Due notice and further particulars will be given on its completion. 

Crocker's Publishing House, 



TO ^vhom: IX m:^y coisrcERisr. 



A HIST on T 

OF 

WESTERN RESERVE COLLEGE, 

JBy Mev, CAMItOL CUTLER, njy,, President, 

The book contains one hundred pages, giving the history for 
fifty years of one of the largest Western Colleges; its trials 
and struggles in its early years, and its growth up to the present 
time. 

Printed in clear type, on tinted paper, bound in pamphlet 
form. Price 75 cents, postage paid. 



